Back Issue #134 by TwoMorrows Publishing

BRONZE AGE RARITIES & ODDITIES ISSUE! 022

4 3 1 . o N$10.95

™

Marvel’s Evel Knievel and Kool-Aid Man comics • CURT SWAN’s Batman JIM APARO’s Superman • DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT’s Marvel custom comics MICHAEL USLAN’s Unseen Earth-Two Stories • Early cover variants & more!

82658 00457

Rare European SUPERMAN Comics of the 1980s!

April 2

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

Go to www.twomorrows.com for other issues, and an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

BACK ISSUE #125

BACK ISSUE #126

ER EISN RD !! AWA NER WIN

BACK ISSUE #122

BACK ISSUE #123

BACK ISSUE #124

Celebrates the 40TH ANNIVERSARY of MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ’s New Teen Titans, featuring a guest editorial by WOLFMAN and a PÉREZ tribute and art gallery! Plus: The New Teen Titans’ 40 GREATEST MOMENTS, the Titans in the media, hero histories of RAVEN, STARFIRE, and the PROTECTOR, and more! With a NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PÉREZ TITANS COVER from 1981!

SUPERHERO ROMANCE ISSUE! Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark’s many loves, Star Sapphire history, Bronze Age weddings, DeFALCO/ STERN Johnny Storm/Alicia Pro2Pro interview, Elongated Man and Wife, May-December romances, Supergirl’s Secret Marriage, and… Aunt May and Doc Ock?? Featuring MIKE W. BARR, CARY BATES, STEVE ENGLEHART, BOB LAYTON, DENNY O’NEIL, and many more! Cover by DAVE GIBBONS.

HORRIFIC HEROES! With Bronze Age histories of Man-Thing, the Demon, and the Creeper, Atlas/Seaboard’s horrifying heroes, and Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) rides again! Featuring the work of CHRIS CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, ERNIE COLON, MICHAEL GOLDEN, JACK KIRBY, MIKE PLOOG, JAVIER SALTARES, MARK TEXIERA, and more. Man-Thing cover by RUDY NEBRES.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

BACK ISSUE #127

BACK ISSUE #128

BACK ISSUE #129

CREATOR-OWNED COMICS! Featuring in-depth histories of MATT WAGNER’s Mage and Grendel. Plus other indie sensations of the Bronze Age, including COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris the Bear, and LARRY WELZ’s Cherry Poptart! With a fabulous Grendel cover by MATT WAGNER.

“Legacy” issue! Wally West Flash, BRANDON ROUTH Superman interview, Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Infinity Inc., Reign of the Supermen, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JR. “Rough Stuff,” plus CONWAY, FRACTION, JURGENS, MESSNER-LOEBS, MICHELINIE, ORDWAY, SLOTT, ROY THOMAS, MARK WAID, and more. WIERINGO/MARZAN JR. cover!

SOLDIERS ISSUE! Sgt. Rock revivals, General Thunderbolt Ross, Beetle Bailey in comics, DC’s Blitzkrieg, War is Hell’s John Kowalski, Atlas’ savage soldiers, The ’Nam, Nth the Ultimate Ninja, and CONWAY and GARCIA-LOPEZ’s Cinder and Ashe. Featuring CLAREMONT, DAVID, DIXON, GOLDEN, HAMA, KUBERT, LOEB, DON LOMAX, DOUG MURRAY, TUCCI, and more. BRIAN BOLLAND cover!

BRONZE AGE TV TIE-INS! TV-to-comic adaptations of the ’70s to ’90s, including Bionic Woman, Dark Shadows, Emergency, H. R. Pufnstuf, Hee Haw, Lost in Space (with BILL MUMY), Primus (with ROBERT BROWN), Sledge Hammer, Superboy, V, and others! Featuring BALD, BATES, CAMPITI, EVANIER, JOHN FRANCIS MOORE, SALICRUP, SAVIUK, SPARLING, STATON, WOLFMAN, and more!

TV TOON TIE-INS! Bronze Age HannaBarbera Comics, Underdog, Mighty Mouse, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Pink Panther, Battle of the Planets, and Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl. Bonus: SCOTT SHAW! digs up Captain Carrot’s roots! Featuring the work of BYRNE, COLON, ENGEL, EVANIER, FIELDS, MICHAEL GALLAGHER, WIN MORTIMER, NORRIS, SEVERIN, SKEATES, STATON, TALLARICO, TOTH, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

BACK ISSUE #130

BACK ISSUE #131

BACK ISSUE #132

BACK ISSUE #133

BRONZE AGE PROMOS, ADS, AND GIMMICKS! The aborted DC Super-Stars Society fan club, Hostess Comic Ads, DC 16-page Preview Comics, rare Marvel custom comics, DC Hotline, Popeye Career Comics, early variant covers, and more. Featuring BARR, HERDLING, LEVITZ, MAGUIRE, MORGAN, PACELLA, PALMIOTTI, SHAW!, TERRY STEWART, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and more!

THE KIRBY LEGACY AT DC! Explores Jack Kirby’s post-Fourth World Bronze Age DC characters! Demon, Kamandi, OMAC, Sandman, and Kirby’s Odd Jobs (Atlas, Manhunter, and more). Plus: the SIMON & KIRBY Reunion That Wasn’t! Featuring BISSETTE, BYRNE, CONWAY, GIBBONS, GOLDEN, GRANT, RUCKA, SEMEIKS, THOMAS, TIMM, WAGNER, and more. Demon cover by KIRBY and MIKE ROYER!

1980s MARVEL LIMITED SERIES! CLAREMONT/MILLER’s Wolverine, Black Panther, Falcon, Punisher, Machine Man, Iceman, Magik, Fantastic Four vs. X-Men, Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., Wolfpack, and more! With BOGDANOVE, COWAN, DeFALCO, DeMATTEIS, GRANT, HAMA, MILGROM, NEARY, SMITH, WINDSORSMITH, and more. Cover by JOE RUBINSTEIN. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

STARMEN ISSUE, headlined by JAMES ROBINSON and TONY HARRIS’s Jack Knight Starman! Plus: The StarSpangled Kid, Starjammers, the 1980s Starman, and Starstruck! Featuring DAVE COCKRUM, GERRY CONWAY, ROBERT GREENBERGER, ELAINE LEE, TOM LYLE, MICHAEL Wm. KALUTA, ROGER STERN, ROY THOMAS, and more. Jack Knight Starman cover by TONY HARRIS.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

Volume 1, Number 134 April 2022 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Joe Kubert (originally produced for Ehapa’s Superman Quarterly #9, 1982; courtesy of John Wells) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER David Baldy SPECIAL THANKS Mark Arnold Dean Motter Mike W. Barr Luigi Novi Tom Brevoort Dan Parent Robert V. Conte Marc Patten Gerry Conway Gary Pipa DC Comics Bob Rozakis Keith Dallas Jim Salicrup Tom DeFalco Alex Saviuk Cecil Disharoon John Schwirian Kerry Gammill Bob Smith Grand Comics Dan Tandarich Database Joseph Turner Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Michael Uslan Heritage Comics Frank Verzyl Auctions Dan Wallace Ilke Hincer Delmo Walters, Jr. Tony Isabella’s John Wells Bloggy Thing Eddy Zeno Todd Klein Paul Kupperberg DEDICATED TO THE David P. Levin MEMORY OF Paul Levitz Jim Aparo Joe Lihach David Anthony Kraft Ed Lute Curt Swan

Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions! C’mon citizen, DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE! Buy affordable, legal downloads only at

www.twomorrows.com or through our Apple and Google Apps!

& DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep producing great publications like this one!

BACKSEAT DRIVER: Superman by Jim Aparo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Editorial by Michael Eury, featuring Superman art by the acclaimed Batman artist FLASHBACK: Curt Swan and His Bat-Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Swan historian Eddy Zeno looks at Batman art by THE Superman artist THE TOY BOX: Evel Knievel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Move over, Ghost Rider! Make way for Marvel’s other Bronze Age motorcyclist! PRINCE STREET NEWS: The Lost Oddities of the Bronze Age of Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 A new cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. INTERVIEWS: Marvel Custom Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Marvel’s craziest comic books, as remembered by their creators WHAT THE--?!: Oh, Yeah! Kool-Aid Man Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Both Marvel and Archie took a taste of TV’s pitcher pitchman GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Tales from Earth-U(slan) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Batman movie producer Michael Uslan’s unproduced Earth-Two stories FLASHBACK: Leaf’s DC Secret Origins Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 A sweet sampler of a candy company’s specialty comics OFF MY CHEST: Superman Ehapa Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Guest columnist Paul Kupperberg flips through Superman stories produced for the German market ONE-HIT WONDERS: Superman: This Island Bradman! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 It’s unlikely that you have this rarity in your collection FLASHBACK: And Lo, There Shall Come… A Variant Cover! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Pros and retailers recall the evolution of the enduring sales incentive BACK TALK: Reader Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 BACK ISSUE™ issue 134, April 2022 (ISSN 1932-6904) is published monthly (except Jan., March, May, and Nov.) by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage pending at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Back Issue, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $90 Economy US, $137 International, $39 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Joe Kubert. Superman © DC Comics. Other characters © their respective companies. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter © 2022 TwoMorrows and Michael Eury except Prince Street News, © Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

I don’t recall exactly where I spent my 35 cents for my copy of Batman #293 (Nov. 1977), be it a newsstand or drug store or convenience store in that pre-comic shop era, but I do remember how excited I was to spot it. Sure, it was cool seeing Lex Luthor moonlight as a Batman villain. But what made this issue of Batman special for me was its cover by the artist of my favorite comic, The Brave and the Bold—the one and only Jim Aparo. While an Aparo Batman cover was certainly nothing new, the cover’s co-star was a character not associated with the artist—Superman! I was in my late teens at the time, but I had already developed a discerning artistic eye from the few art classes I had taken as well as the “training” I received poring over comics illustrated by innovative new talent like Cockrum, Starlin, Kaluta, Simonson, and Grell, as well as my appreciation of the masters from my youth—Adams and Giordano, Swan and Anderson, Kane, Buscema, Kirby, Infantino, Cardy, and Romita, to name a few. But in 1977, for me, nobody did it better than Jim Aparo (with apologies to James Bond and Carly Simon). Aparo’s Brave and Bold, as I’ve written about many times in these pages, always jim aparo rose to the top of my reading pile. His interpretation of the Caped Crusader evoked the house style of Neal Adams’ Batman while maintaining a look all his own, and Aparo’s background in advertising and as the artist of humor, jungle, sci-fi, and Western comics gave him the versatility to fluently draw Batman’s wide-ranging co-stars. I do remember being disappointed to open Batman #293 and find inside rather tepid artwork by John Calnan and a mismatched inker, Tex Blaisdell. That made Aparo’s dynamic Superman on the cover stand out even more. This wasn’t Jim Aparo’s first time drawing Superman, although for years I thought that was the case. That instead happened early in his DC career in a Justice League flashback panel in the penultimate issue of Aquaman, #55 (Jan.–Feb. 1971), which was tying up loose ends from the Steve Skeates-scripted “Search for Mera” storyline. It was years after its publication that I discovered this comic, and truth be told Aparo’s rendition of Superman there engendered no excitement. The artist’s style was still evolving in late 1970 when he drew that issue. While he was finally freeing himself of

First Aparo Superman? Not quite… the famed artist of Batman and The Brave and the Bold had drawn the Man of Steel once before this iconic cover for Batman #293 (Nov. 1977). Do you know where? (If not, you’re about to find out.) TM & © DC Comics.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

by M i c h a e l

Eury

parroting Aquaman’s preceding artist, Nick Cardy, in his rendition of the Sea King, Aparo tended to draw all of his superhero figures with the same lanky, sinewy form. What little you could see of Aparo’s Superman in that sole Aquaman #55 panel, with its loquacious voiceover caption blocking most of the hero’s form, looked more like a basketball player than a man of steel (see inset). But Aparo was at the top of his game some six years later when he finally had the opportunity to revisit Superman on the Batman #293 cover. Here, his Superman was mighty, with massive shoulders and great intensity—all in a single image that conveyed this power despite showing the hero in a ghostly, imperiled state. I imagined—as I’m sure did other DC readers—what would a Superman story drawn by Jim Aparo look like? Once Paul Levitz took over as Brave and Bold editor and began to liberate the venerable Batman team-up from its prison of familiar guest-stars, fresh faces began to appear in team-ups, affording Jim Aparo the opportunity to draw characters beyond B&B staples Green Arrow, Deadman, Sgt. Rock, Wildcat, and the Metal Men.

Shadow of the Superman (top left) Aparo’s rendition of Superman, alongside his pal and partner Batman, in original art form from Brave and Bold #150 (May 1979). Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). (bottom left) Superman in flight in panels from the next page of the story. (top middle) A novel Clark-to-Superman transformation, as drawn by Aparo in B&B #192 (Nov. 1982). (top right) Detail from page 23 of Heroes Against Hunger (Aug. 1986), with Aparo inks over Sal Amendola pencils. (bottom right) Aparo’s beautifully composed Batman and the Outsiders teaser from DC Sampler #2 (Sept. 1984) shows Geo-Force fighting a silhouetted Superman. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

The Inside Scoop Lesser seen than his Internet-displayed World’s Finest Comics covers is this table of contents page by Aparo, from the inside front cover of WFC #254, which features the artist’s rendition of Superman and the issue’s other players. TM & © DC Comics.

4 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Superman Flyovers (top left) Detail from page 9 of Batman and the Outsiders #19 (Mar. 1985). (top right) Detail from page 20 of Batman #428 (Dec. 1988), inked by Mike DeCarlo. Aparo later drew commissioned recreations of this iconic “A Death in the Family” scene. (inset) Aparo pencils, Dick Giordano inks, on an “A Death in the Family” card from the Saga of the Dark Knight trading card set (Skybox, 1994). Courtesy of Ilke Hincer. (bottom) 1986 magazine ad for an “Amazing Mom” sweepstakes, from 1986 during DC’s Super Powers toy line (and Super Powers merchandise branding), featuring artwork that appears to be penciled by Jim Aparo and inked by Dick Giordano. Can anyone verify this? If so, please contact me at euryman@gmail.com. Scan courtesy of Ilke Hincer. TM & © DC Comics.

Supergirl was one of them, in B&B #147 (Feb. 1979), a team-up popular enough to warrant a sequel in issue #160. Lois Lane teamed with Batman in B&B #175. Aparo had a tendency to draw a stock female type, with most of his ladies looking essentially the same outside of cosmetic and sartorial differences. Still, Jim’s rendition of good-girl art was stunning. Aparo’s Supergirl and Lois Lane were pleasing to the eye, although he never seemed comfortable when drawing Supergirl in flight. Aparo’s first real shot at drawing Superman occurred in B&B’s sesquicentennial edition, #150 (May 1979), billed as a mystery co-star in a Batman and ? team-up where writer Bob Haney dropped clues about the identity of a brutish watchman for the kidnapped Bruce Wayne. Superman’s identity wasn’t revealed until late in the story, which then afforded Aparo precious few opportunities to render the Man of Steel in action. Here, Aparo excelled where he fell short with the two Supergirl teamups. His flying Superman was powerful yet graceful, and my suspicion is that the artist might have been inspired by movie Superman Christopher Reeve when drawing the Metropolis Marvel’s face. Superman appeared once more in The Brave and the Bold, near the end of the series’ run, in the Batman/Superboy team-up in issue #192 (Nov. 1982). Here, Aparo triumphed even beyond his stellar work in #150. He drew Superboy as a teenager, not as a shorter Superman other artists often tended to do. What little of Superman that appeared in the tale was epically portrayed, most notably page 3, where the artist depicted Clark Kent’s transformation into Superman in shadows at the clever script direction of writer Mike W. Barr. Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

Aparo would get a few more shots at drawing Superman. In the late 1970s he was the cover artist for World’s Finest Comics, which starred not only the Superman/Batman team but also featured backups of other DC characters in the title’s double-sized “Dollar Comic” phase. His portrayal of Superman was hit or miss on these covers, as Jim seemed to never quite find a consistent face for his Man of Steel. An egregious example was WFC #253 (Nov. 1978), in an otherwise remarkable wraparound cover with Superman exposing Batman’s identity before an audience that also included the title’s backup stars. Superman’s face was sketchy and raw, certainly not Aparo’s best effort. A few issues later, on the cover of WFC #257 (July 1979), Aparo smoothly illustrated Superman and Batman swooping onto the scene, and while Superman’s posture seems natural, his face doesn’t even look like Aparo drew it (I suspect it might have been redrawn by Ross Andru, one of DC’s chief cover artists of the time). Aparo had a few additional shots at Superman in the 1980s: the Man of Steel guest-starred in Batman and the Outsiders #19 (Mar. 1985) and Batman #428 (Dec. 1988), the latter being part of the “A Death in the Family” storyline that featured the Joker’s murder of Robin (Jason Todd), and Jim inked Sal Amendola’s

Superman in a short sequence in 1986’s famine-relief book, Heroes Against Hunger. He even drew Superman with a mullet, in an outing in the post-Death of Superman era’s Green Arrow vol. 2 #100 (Sept. 1995). As I once again confess my deep affection and appreciation for Jim Aparo’s artwork—he remains my all-time favorite comic-book artist—his Superman was sometimes remarkable, sometimes disappointing. In these outings he seemed more at ease drawing Clark Kent than in drawing Superman himself. Yet I suspect that if given a chance, Aparo would have quickly developed a “look” for Superman that rivaled his rendition of Batman, which defined the Masked Manhunter for a generation of readers. As much as I appreciated his post-Brave and Bold work on BATO and Batman, an Aparo stint on Superman or Action Comics would have been, well, super. And as such, in what seems like a lifetime after my initial discovery of 1977’s Batman #293, I continue to imagine—what would a Superman story drawn by Jim Aparo look like? BACK ISSUE editor-in-chief MICHAEL EURY’s new book is, not surprisingly, The Team-Up Companion, coming later this year from TwoMorrows. He expresses his gratitude to Ilke Hincer for bringing a few Aparo Superman depictions to his attention.

Jim Aparo Superman Cover Gallery

6 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

Curt Swan penciled something north of 18,000 panel pages, 900 covers, and 1,380 newspaper strips between the latter part of 1945 and mid-year 1996. While he is remembered first and foremost for drawing Superman, more than 1,100 of those story pages and 125 front wraps (around 6%) included Batman and his supporting cast. During comic books’ Bronze and Modern Ages, the illustrator had quite a few opportunities to picture the Dynamic Duo and their ilk. Not only on covers, pinups, and in cameos used to springboard story plots, but as apparitions and crooked impersonators, too. He was as comfortable penciling Batman, Robin, and various Bat-gadgets for a How to Draw Superheroes Golden Book as he was drawing multiple full-page ads for Hostess baked goods starring the World’s Greatest Detective, the Teen Wonder, Batgirl, Penguin, and the Joker. However, it was while fleshing out the Batman family’s exploits through characterization and extended action that Swan’s talent shone brightest.

THE WORLD’S FINEST TEAM

When it came to 1950s science fiction, artists like Dick Sprang and Sheldon Moldoff did a fine job of having the Defender of Gotham time-travel or visit other planets. It is fair to argue that those Jack Schiff-edited tales hardly seemed right for a mortal crimefighter. On the other hand, they were a change of pace and not the norm. People were dreaming of space as the new frontier when such began to flourish. The offbeat stories are more respected today than even a few years back. In 1964 Mort Weisinger assumed the editorial reins of World’s Finest Comics from Jack Schiff; he brought Curt Swan with him. (Curt had an earlier stint on that title before assignments took him elsewhere for several years.) It made more sense in World’s Finest for the Caped Crusader to visit historical epochs or skirt the cosmos than it did in his solo titles. After all, he was paired with the Man of Tomorrow. While Swan was masterful at enveloping Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent in science-fiction milieu, it was the way curt swan he forged a comradeship between them that was unparalleled. In “The Last Days of Superman!” (Superman © DC Comics. #156, Oct. 1962), penciled by Curt and inked by George Klein, the Man of Steel thought he was dying. Standout scenes included a diminished Kryptonian flying shakily to Batman’s burg to say farewell; Kal-El with his hand on Bruce’s shoulder expressed the intimacy of their friendship. Such kinship became literal when the same art team illustrated the imaginary story “Superman and Batman – Brothers!” (World’s Finest Comics #172,

One You Might Have Missed Swan’s final full-length Batman story appeared in the 1992 specialty comic, Batman: A Word to the Wise. Script by Wein, inks by Anderson. TM & © DC Comics.

8 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

by E

ddy Zeno

Dec. 1967). Under Mort Weisinger’s direction, kids growing up in the ’60s viewed the maudlin sentimentality as a strength rather than a weakness. By the mid-1970s, Swan was an occasional guestpenciler in World’s Finest, with Bob Haney writing and Murray Boltinoff, followed by Dennis O’Neil, as the editors. Different embellishers included Tex Blaisdell, John Calnan, Al Milgrom, and Murphy Anderson. It was interesting to see how Curt tackled stories with littleemotion, stream-of-consciousness scripts, and lightningspeed plots. Crowded panels detracted from Swan’s work, even when Anderson applied pen and brush. Though Curt penciled with flair one of Haney’s alternative tales featuring the heroes’ “Super Sons” (WF #230, May 1975), it was elsewhere that the artist would do more with the Dark Knight and his supporting characters, both in solo adventures and in team-ups of a different sort.

COMMISSIONER GORDON’S DAUGHTER

Having drawn Batgirl and Supergirl together in WF #169 (Sept. 1967), Swan was given a return engagement when he penciled “Cleopatra Queen of America” in The Superman Family #171 (June–July 1975). Elliot S. Maggin was the writer. Partly set in the nation’s capital, Elliot’s script left the second page of Chapter Three without dialogue, trusting Curt to propel events forward as Batgirl silently shed her cape and dove off a bridge into the Potomac; pulled a weakened, unconscious, and drowning Supergirl onto dry land; performed mouthto-mouth; and finally dragged her to a nearby vehicle where she placed Kara’s lips on a leaky tire valve to resuscitate her friend. Swan and Maggin had earlier joined forces in Superman #268 (Oct. 1973) as Clark Kent met Barbara Gordon for a “Wild Week-End in Washington!” Those were her pre-Oracle days when Babs was a US Congresswoman, changing to her night-garbed persona to swing via rope or ride her Bat-motorscooter into the fray. Maggin, who ran for government offices in real life, added political intrigue to each tale. Batman made brief appearances in both. Maggin and Swan’s third and final Batgirl team-up partnered Commissioner Gordon’s daughter with Dick Grayson (The Batman Family #7, Sept.–Oct. 1976). Curt was adept at highlighting Batgirl and Robin’s flips, tumbles, and other derring-do. Described by Elliot as “…the two most agile athletes in the crime-fighting business!,” a chariot race and dizzying perspective while climbing the steps of an Aztec pyramid were prerequisites to capturing the criminal couple Huntress and Sportsmaster. Swan was up to the illustrative task.

THE ROBIN AND THE SWAN

Curt’s initial opportunity to pencil Bruce Wayne’s Ward reached back to Star-Spangled Comics #72 (Sept. 1947). He would draw Robin many more times, usually in World’s Finest Comics, during ensuing decades. The New Teen Titans remained a red-hot title when Swan put graphite to Bristol board in issue #5 (Mar. 1981), filling in for regular penciler George Pérez, with inks by Romeo Tanghal. It was nice to see one of Dick Grayson’s longest-tenured artists help usher him toward manhood. Curt would have other occasions during the next several years. The Elongated Man joined Robin and Superman in DC Comics Presents #58 (June 1983). Julius Schwartz was the editor, Mike W. Barr the writer, and Dave Hunt added India ink to Swan’s pencils. Robin and Elongated Man, with their shared circus backgrounds, were performing a trapeze act under the Big Top for charity. Clark Kent covered the story in his role as a television

newsman before donning his costume when emergencies arose. Curt’s imagination was on full display, whether portraying a grand parade, a runaway elephant, or the Elongated Man in some of the most inventive poses of his career. In one scene, a contemplative Ralph sat on an animal platform with elbows resting on the ground while his forearms stretched up and up, fists supporting his chin à la The Thinker if Rodin’s sculpture turned to rubber. Dick Grayson and Ralph Dibny had the greater rapport—with a witty banter between them—though it was obvious from his comments that Robin respected Kal-El as the greatest superhero of them all. A few years after the Teen Wonder shed his childhood identity to become Nightwing, Swan drew him in street clothes in The New Teen Titans #43 (May 1988) and in costume when a spinoff emerged that continued the original title’s numbering (The New Titans #81, Dec. 1991). Grayson was featured more prominently in The New Titans Annual #6 (1990). Curt penciled the second of three chapters in the “jam issue,” incorporating two splash battle pages and innovative panel designs that were compatible with the other pencilers, Paris Cullins and Tom Grindberg. In The New Titans #86 (May 1992) Nightwing had the pivotal role. It was another jam issue, but unfortunately Swan’s two-page entry did not include Batman’s former partner. Curt’s inker on each of these visits with the Titans was Al Vey, who gave the art a polished look. Marv Wolfman was the writer.

Bat-Moments (top left) A heartbreaking farewell, from the landmark Superman #156 (Oct. 1962). (top right) The forging of the young Batman, from World’s Finest #172 (Dec. 1967). (bottom) Swooping in, from World’s Finest #230 (May 1975). TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 9

Swanderson in Gotham City A rare Curt Swan Batman cover from the early Bronze Age, inked by Murphy Anderson, for the Giant, Batman #228 (Jan.–Feb. 1971). Original art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

KILLER CROC

A wounded cop facing four armed criminals with only his nightstick, an escaped death-row inmate’s desperate sojourn to cross the southern border—both plots came from an early Bronze Age 64-page reprint comic book titled, “Stop… You Can’t Beat the Law!” (DC Special #10, Jan.–Feb. 1971). Penciled by Curt Swan and grittily inked by Ray Burnley, those were but two examples from literally thousands of times that Swan portrayed villainous street thugs. He had as much claim to depicting the Gotham Detective’s regular criminal cases as anyone. Same with the Dark Knight’s longtime supervillains; Curt had ample experience drawing bad guys in colorful togs. But what about the grotesqueries who came later, ushering Batman into their worlds of depravity? It has been said that Swan made creatures borne from horror look pleasant. Cartoonist Joe Staton once joked about an inking assignment in which he was told to make Curt’s monsters look scarier. One might expect the same from his portrayal of the reptilian-looking killer in Batman #358 (Apr. 1983). Indeed, that was Swan’s deal with the reader. Rather than making Killer

Croc’s features ghastlier, Curt chose to accentuate his power and aggression. A wonderful script allowed for terrific layouts. Menacing body language was offset by quiet scenes imbued with humanity. Comic books were beginning to grow darker. Aided by inker Rodin Rodriguez, certain panels in Batman #358 were outstandingly lit while others were more shadowy. Not enough to turn Curt’s work into something it was not, but to give that portion of Killer Croc’s origin a little more edge, a heightened sense of danger. Writer Gerry Conway weaved Croc cameos and full stories through seven issues of Batman and Detective Comics. With Len Wein editing, Swan and Rodriguez appeared as guest-artists midstream. Meshing seamlessly with the others, Batman #358 represented a varied new touchstone in Curt’s storied career.

FRIENDLY BATMAN, JOCULAR JOKER

Batman: A Word to the Wise (1992) was Swan’s last opportunity to draw a full-length comic book featuring the Batarang-throwing, steer-roping Caped Crusader. Sponsored by Zellers Inc., the one-shot, 30-page DC publication was designed to promote literacy in Canada. Published under Joe Orlando’s watch as executive editor, Len Wein was the writer. Three Silver Age artists came aboard to ensure that the lighter, kid-friendly version of Batman was back. In addition to Curt, Carmine Infantino penciled the cover. Murphy Anderson was credited with inking both the front wrap and inside story, too. The steer-roping reference above refers to the final setting in A Word to the Wise. After pursuing the Joker from Montreal to a library in Toronto to a Zellers store just outside Edmonton, the Dark Knight lassoed the Laughing Lunatic at a rodeo somewhere in Alberta. Batman, arms held aloft in victory, yelled “Clear!” The crowd cheered when the announcer confirmed that a record was set for his hog-tying prowess. This was not the sadistic psychopath from 1988’s Batman: The Killing Joke. Though violence beyond fisticuffs was occasionally threatened, when the Ace of Knaves had a chance to shoot Batman mid-story, his trick gun fired a smokescreen instead to cover his escape. Anesthetic gas was squirted from a flower on his lapel, not the lethal liquid he sometimes used. The Joker’s one unconscious victim held a hideous grin, but upon awakening his facial contortions were gone. Keeping with the issue’s theme, the Clown Prince of Crime thought he stole a land grant giving him all of North America, but he did not read the document carefully enough to learn that it expired one day before staking his claim. Meanwhile, a student named Joanie Brown was a book lover who used her knowledge to help Batman solve the case. Joanie’s good example and the Joker’s reading misstep helped her friend Joey Ferro decide who to emulate in his studies. A Word to the Wise was a grand reunion for Curt and Murph. With better printing than they once endured, there were no off-register colors. Anderson’s precise inking could be showcased. His feathering of abdominal and serratus muscles was sharp. The comic book opened with a beautiful splash page featuring the detective swinging toward the reader, athleticism on full display. Later, the inked lines of an opening door blended into the shaded side of Batman’s face and mask until they merged. It was a graceful way to divide story panels. Other things to note: Swan designed a new Batmobile with split scoops on the back that was exceedingly sleek. The penciler preferred the Gotham Detective’s cowled ears to be longer and more tapered than most of his peers; in 1992 he added a little curve to them as well. And, finally, the Joker wearing cowboy regalia was a hoot!

10 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Curt and the Bat-‘Kids’ (top left) Swan’s Batgirl, from Superman #268 (Oct. 1973). (top right) Once a Flying Grayson, always a Flying Grayson. From DC Comics Presents #58 (June 1983). (bottom) Dynamic Swan art, inked by Rodin Rodriguez, in Batman #358 (Apr. 1983). TM & © DC Comics.

SYMMETRY

It was noted that Batman: A Word to the Wise was in some ways a comic book out of time. Not a reflection of everything Swan had learned, no single comic book could do that. More like a panoramic, partial display of the hard-earned storytelling wisdom he had acquired—at age 72. Four years later, the illustrator was given a ten-page assignment that was much the opposite. “Cityscape” appeared in The Batman Chronicles #6 (Fall 1996). Gotham City was the story’s star. It was sparse and Batman-related, but without an appearance by Bruce Wayne in street clothes or secret identity: a macabre historical vignette intended to lay the foundation for how Gotham City came to be. “Cityscape” occurred in an undisclosed year during the 19th Century. Buildings were fashioned of axe-hewn timbers, horses the best means of transportation. There was a psychotic individual, not the Joker’s ancestor, but a fictional serial killer educated in England. No superheroics, although the Tim Drake version of Robin appeared briefly with Alfred to narrate through flashbacks. Brightly colored scenes from the present contrasted nicely with near-monochrome panels from the rain-soaked past. The humble protagonist, labeled a “mulatto,” was decried and beaten for no other reason than his biracial heritage. The artist illustrating his plight was a World War II veteran who, during the war, called out his racist peers for giving a soldier of color a difficult time in a pub. Despite elements of horror, “Cityscape” was an unassuming story. Curt was unassuming, too, satisfied to still be drawing, whether it be an extravaganza or this tucked-away, third story backup. Though he had an ego like everyone does, Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

Canada and Cowboys (left) Courtesy of Heritage, a Swan/ Anderson original art page featuring Batman, the Joker, and the Batmobile, from Batman: A Word to the Wise. (right) A moody page out of Bat-history, from “Cityscape” in Batman Chronicles #6 (Fall 1996). By Denny O’Neil, Curt Swan, and John Dell. TM & © DC Comics.

he likely would have said that was good enough. A quiet tale, Swan died quietly not long after its completion. “Cityscape’s” author was Dennis O’Neil. One can find symmetry in that it marked roughly 25 years since Curt first worked with Dennis on Superman #233 (Jan. 1971)—around the half-way point of Swan’s 50 years in comics.

THE NEVER-ENDING END

In many ways his Batman-related work is a microcosm of what Curt Swan brought to comic books. He was an artist who could do it all… except for drawing really scary monsters… Whether illustrating certain characters over a lifetime or borrowing others for a single story, Swan made them his. It has been pointed out that he penciled thousands of panels showing average criminals, with law-abiding citizens in the tens of thousands looking on. Curt pictured a Superman like no one else’s when he flew into the sun or hovered nearby to bathe in its rays. At the same time, his Earthborn costumed heroes were phenomenally bright and athletic, able to overcome exceptional foes. When Kal-El was de-powered, he was more of a bare-knuckle prizefighter. Batman and especially Robin and Batgirl had to fight

differently by using their villains’ might against them. Swan invented ways for them to apply momentum instead of brute force like no illustrator had before. His animals moved naturally. Landscapes and cityscapes drew the eye to points of interest. Curt’s ability to show emotion on the printed page has been lightly covered, but he was unsurpassed at expressing strength of character, or weakness, mirth, envy, etc. There was a rare level of intimacy between artist and viewer. That is how those of us who grew up with his work came to know him. A quote from author Katherine May in Wintering (Riverhead Books, 2020) is attuned to this comicbook master: “The adventure doesn’t end on the last page.” Though he has been gone for more than a quarter-century, the drawings persist, waiting to be discovered anew. Superman historian EDDY ZENO is the author of the books Curt Swan: A Life in Comics, Al Plastino: Last Superman Standing, and Drawn to Greatness: Wayne Boring and the Early Superman Artists.

12 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Look! Up in the Sky! Wow, this 1992 Batman pencil commission by Curt Swan is… well, super! Courtesy of Heritage. Batman TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 13

In 1974, as kids browsed through their local Toys “R” Us, Lionel Kiddie City, Circus World, or other local toy stores throughout the USA, they found a free bonus Marvel comic featuring Evel Knievel awaiting them. But how and why did the company that published comics featuring everyone’s favorite wall-crawler, the Amazing Spider-Man, produce a comic featuring the daredevil motorcycle rider, and why was it given away free at toy stores and not available for sale on spinner racks? BACK ISSUE takes a look at Evel Knievel, what made him special, the toy Stunt Cycle and other Ideal Evel Knievel toys, and Marvel’s one-shot promotional comic.

EVEL KNIEVEL: THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel was a daredevil stuntman active during the late 1960s and 1970s. He was one of the most iconic personalities of the time. Knievel was known as much for his crashes as his successful jumps. People of all ages loved to watch him jump and/or crash, as the case might be, because you just never knew the outcome when he took off. But you did know it was going to be thrilling, no matter what! While Knievel had many jumps (or attempted jumps), several of them became iconic. His jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 31, 1967; an unsuccessful Snake River Canyon jump in Idaho on September 8, 1974; and his successful jump over 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 25, 1975 are just a few of his notable ones. While most famous for his motorcycle-riding prowess, Knievel’s Snake River Canyon jump was performed on a rocket-powevel knievel ered sky-bike called the Skycycle X-1. As Knievel’s popularity continued to grow beyond Courtesy of Heritage its initial cult status, he capitalized on that fame Comics Auctions. by promoting various motorcycles from Triumph Motorcycle Company and American Eagle Motorcycles. However, he didn’t stop there and went on to make one of his most popular and lucrative endorsements, with Ideal Toys.

by E

d Lute

THE STUNT CYCLE AND OTHER TOYS

Ideal, which had become famous during the early 1900s for its teddy bears and dolls including Betsy Wetsy, made a deal with Knievel in 1972 to produce a line of toys based on his likeness and stunt-riding skills. A memorable toy from the 1970s came out of the deal: the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. The toy, based on Knievel’s motorcycle, allowed kids to recreate Knievel’s death-defying jumps—or crash landings, if that’s what they wanted. A Knievel action figure and his Stunt Cycle would be placed upon a red launcher, the launcher was cranked until enough energy was built up, and then the rider and cycle would speed away. It was one of the bestselling toys of the decade and has a special place in the hearts and minds of many kids who had one (or those who wanted, but never got one). Ideal Toys also produced other toys in the Evel Knievel line, including the Scramble Van, the Super Jet Cycle, the Canyon Sky Cycle, and the Formula 1 Dragster, and a line of diecast miniatures [see our sister mag, RetroFan #15, for photos and details—ed.]. These toys were released in a time before all-day children’s television stations where toy commercials could be shown continuously, so in addition to TV commercials for their Knievel line, Ideal came up with another great way to market the toys to kids: contracting with Marvel Comics to publish a one-shot promotional comic. Knievel’s larger-than-life personality and showmanship fit in perfectly with the costumed crimefighters that graced the pages of Marvel. The idea was that kids would get the comic, see the products in the comic, and pester their parents or grandparents enough so that they would have to buy them one of the toys before leaving the store.

Move Over, Johnny Blaze Here comes Marvel Comics’ Evel Knievel! While some collectors have attributed the cover pencils or layouts to John Romita, Sr., the finished art is by Joe Sinnott, who may have done the layouts as well. In December 2016, Sinnott signed a limited edition of full-color 11x17 glossy prints of this cover for MEARS Auctions.

14 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

MARVEL’S EVEL KNIEVEL PROMOTIONAL COMIC

The front cover of the Evel Knievel promotional comic featured the daredevil stunt rider giving fans the “V for victory” sign as he jumped through a ring of fire. It promised readers “An Exclusive Evel Knievel Adventure!” This 16-page tale, “The Perilous Traps of Mr. Danger,” featured Knievel using his various vehicles to help him defeat the villainous Mr. Danger, with Evel’s vehicles being part of the toy line. With the Stunt Cycle being the top seller, it played the most prominent role in the story. Throughout the pages of the comic, the generic bad guy Mr. Danger attempted to sabotage Knievel’s act. Mr. Danger wanted to kill Knievel and destroy the stadium. Of course, Evel was able to defeat him and save the day. The comic made no effort to conceal that it was promoting Ideal’s toy line. The first page even told readers: “Watch [Evel] as he rehearses an exciting new stunt on his amazing Stunt Cycle, just like the replica you can buy where you got this comic adventure!” In addition to the Stunt Cycle the comic also featured the Scramble Van, Canyon Sky Cycle, and the Stunt and Crash Car. The comic described the Scramble Van as a “fantastic vehicle, [that] features a slide-up windshield, flip-up rear door, and slide-out side panels. …It even has a mountable jump ramp for stunts.” The Canyon Sky Cycle may sound like something far-fetched dreamed up for the toy line, but its design was based

on the actual vehicle Knievel used in his unsuccessful attempt to jump Snake River Canyon! Being known as much for his crashes as for his successes, Knievel’s Stunt and Crash Car (which broke apart when it hit a wall or other object) was a good vehicle for Ideal to include. The comic’s inside front cover also offered Evel Knievel’s bicycle safety tips. Knievel warned kids that “Bicycles are for fun; not for stunts,” and reminded them of safe bike-riding rules, including hand signals for turning. The inside back cover contained an “autographed” picture of Evel Knievel in his iconic performer’s outfit. The back cover was an advertisement for the toys themselves. There were no creators’ credits listed for Marvel’s Evel Knievel, but several online resources including the Grand Comics Database (comics.org) has the dynamic cover art listed as penciled by John Romita and inked by Joe Sinnott. The always-helpful Roy Thomas tells BACK ISSUE, “I’m sorry, but although I was editor-in-chief of Marvel at that time, I remember almost nothing about it, and had virtually nothing to do with it. I wouldn’t be surprised if John Romita wasn’t involved, as he was art director then.” No writer or interior artist credits could be verified. All in all, this was more than a great promotional tool to get kids to buy these outstanding toys. It was a fun Bronze Age adventure that was entertaining and enjoyable. It also helped lead the way for Marvel to produce some of their most popular licensed titles of the Bronze Age.

Name That Artist! Our guess, from (left) this interior page of Evel Knievel, is pencils by Win Mortimer, inks by Mike Esposito. What do you think? (right) This ad— illustrated by Joe Sinnott—was the back cover of Marvel’s EK one-shot and appeared in many other comic books in the mid-1970s.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

Still Rollin’ Courtesy of Gary Pipa, a montage of Ideal Toys catalog pages from 1974 spotlighting the Evel Knievel line.

IDEAL AND MARVEL BEYOND KNIEVEL

In 1977, Evel Knievel was sentenced to six months in jail, convicted of using a baseball bat to beat his former press agent. A disapproving Ideal Toys wanted to distance itself from the disgraced public figure, but didn’t want to lose the revenue generated by the Knievel toys. The company repainted the toys and rebranded them as “Team America.” Ideal reteamed with Marvel Comics when Team America was introduced in Captain America #269 (May 1982) before moving on to its own 12-issue series. [Editor’s note: See BI #41 for more on Marvel’s Team America.] Marvel’s foray into toy-based comics would continue with ROM: Spaceknight, Transformers, and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, amongst others. ROM ran for 75 issues, Transformers for 80, and G.I. Joe for 155 issues plus spinoffs.

Over a decade after Knievel’s 2007 death, the stunt rider and the toys inspired by him remain a part of pop culture. Duke Caboom, voiced by Keanu Reeves, from the 2019 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 4, was an homage to the Evel Knievel toys of the 1970s. California Creations even rereleased the Stunt Cycle using the same molds as the original toy. As of this writing, there hasn’t been a rerelease of the promotional comic. ED LUTE still has his original Evel Knievel Super Jet Cycle in the box. It’s definitely not in mint condition, but that’s okay. He still wants the Scramble Van. The author would like to thank Roy Thomas for his assistance with this article.

16 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

RetroFan Pop Culture You Grew Up With! If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, editor MICHAEL EURY’s latest magazine is just for you!

SUBSCRIBE!

SIX ISSUES: 68 Economy US (with free digital editions) $ 91 Premium US $ 103 International $ 29 Digital Only $

RETROFAN #13

RETROFAN #18

RETROFAN #19

RETROFAN #20

RETROFAN #21

Our BARBARA EDEN interview will keep you forever dreaming of Jeannie! Plus: The Invaders, the BILLIE JEAN KING/BOBBY RIGGS tennis battle of the sexes, HANNABARBERA’s Saturday morning super-heroes of the Sixties, THE MONSTER TIMES fanzine, and more fun, fab features! Featuring ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW!, and MICHAEL EURY.

Interview with Bond Girl and Hammer Films actress CAROLINE MUNRO! Plus: WACKY PACKAGES, COURAGEOUS CAT AND MINUTE MOUSE, FILMATION’S GHOSTBUSTERS vs. the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, Bandai’s rare PRO WRESTLER ERASERS, behind the scenes of Sixties movies, WATERGATE at Fifty, Go-Go Dancing, a visit to the Red Skelton Museum, and more fun, fab features!

MAD’s maddest artist, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, is profiled! Plus: TV’s Route 66 and an interview with star GEORGE MAHARIS, MOE HOWARD’s final years, catching up with singer B.J. THOMAS, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet JULIE NEWMAR, the purr-fect Catwoman! Plus: ASTRO BOY, TARZAN Saturday morning cartoons, the true history of PEBBLES CEREAL, TV’s THE UNTOUCHABLES and SEARCH, the MONKEEMOBILE, SOVIET EXPO ’77, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships April 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships June 2022

RETROFAN #14

RETROFAN #15

RETROFAN #16

RETROFAN #17

Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Heroes’ BOB CRANE, a history of WhamO’s Frisbee, Twilight Zone and other TV sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie Andrews?, oddities from the San Diego Zoo, lava lamps, and more with FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY!

Holy backstage pass! See rare, behind-thescenes photos of many of your favorite Sixties TV shows! Plus: an unpublished interview with Green Hornet VAN WILLIAMS, Bigfoot on Saturday morning television, TV’s Zoorama and the San Diego Zoo, The Saint, the lean years of Star Trek fandom, the WrestleFest video game, TV tie-in toys no kid would want, and more fun, fab features!

Sixties teen idol RICKY NELSON remembered by his son MATTHEW NELSON, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., rural sitcom purge, EVEL KNIEVEL toys, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Saturday morning’s Super 7, The Muppet Show, behind-the-scenes photos of Sixties movies, an interview with The Sound of Music’s heartthrob-turnedbad guy DANIEL “Rolf” TRUHITTE, and more fun, fab features!

An exclusive interview with Logan’s Run star MICHAEL YORK, plus Logan’s Run novelist WILLIAM F. NOLAN and vehicle customizer DEAN JEFFRIES. Plus: the Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of 1966, H. R. Pufnstuf, Leave It to Beaver’s SUE “Miss Landers” RANDALL, WOLFMAN JACK, drive-in theaters, My Weekly Reader, DAVID MANDEL’s super collection of comic book art, and more!

Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER, sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview. Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party, Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

RETROFAN #9

RETROFAN #10

RETROFAN #11

RETROFAN #12

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with ’70s’ Captain America REB BROWN, and Captain Nice (and Knight Rider’s KITT) WILLIAM DANIELS with wife BONNIE BARTLETT! Plus: Coloring Books, Fall Previews for Saturday morning cartoons, The Cyclops movie, actors behind your favorite TV commercial characters, BENNY HILL, the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, 8-track tapes, and more!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Celebrating fifty years of SHAFT, interviews with FAMILY AFFAIR’s KATHY GARVER and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour’s GERI “FAKE JAN” REISCHL, ED “BIG DADDY” ROTH, rare GODZILLA merchandise, Spaghetti Westerns, Saturday morning cartoon preview specials, fake presidential candidates, Spider-Man/The Spider parallels, Stuckey’s, and more fun, fab features!

HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Interviews with DARK SHADOWS’ DAVID SELBY, and the niece of movie Frankenstein GLENN STRANGE, JULIE ANN REAMS. Plus: KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, ROD SERLING retrospective, CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, TV’s Adventures of Superman, Superman’s pal JIMMY OLSEN, QUISP and QUAKE cereals, the DRAK PAK AND THE MONSTER SQUAD, scratch model customs, and more!

CHRIS MANN goes behind the scenes of TV’s sexy sitcom THREE’S COMPANY— and NANCY MORGAN RITTER, first wife of JOHN RITTER, shares stories about the TV funnyman. Plus: RICK GOLDSCHMIDT’s making of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, RONNIE SCHELL interview, Sheena Queen of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss toys, Popeye cartoons, DOCTOR WHO’s 1960s U.S. invasion, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

18 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 19

by C e c i l

20 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Disharoon

Giveaways and PSAs (opposite page) A sampling of Marvel custom comics published between 1978 and 1990. Note that the John Romita, Sr. cover art for the Spider-Man “Christmas in Dallas” comic was repurposed by this magazine as the cover for our 2015 holiday issue, BACK ISSUE #85. TM & © Marvel. Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders © Dallas Cowboys.

In her blog Flashback: Dallas, Paula Bosse compares what pages she’s seen of the 1982 Spider-Man “Christmas in Dallas” newspaper edition, with a little disappointment, to the Dallas-rich environment of “Captain Marvel Battles the Mole Men,” published in 1944. Too bad she didn’t have Dallas Cowboys and Spider-Man on hand. It clearly depicts Reunion Tower and Texas Stadium. And as soon as I mentioned a giant statue coming to life to battle the X-Men, Anime for Humanity chairperson Meghann Files—like any Dallas native— replied, “Do you mean Big Tex?” Custom comics: They are for everyone—especially a child who’s never bought comic books. Flipping through the Sunday newspaper in the harmony of the family living room, the child discovers the floppy surprise and lies around reading, smelling the newsprint as the pages unfold. That Captain Marvel supplement is a forerunner to a line developed by both DC and Marvel: comics made for a product promotion. Motion Picture Funnies Weekly in 1939 was intended as a promotional giveaway, but was not distributed. Captain America was part of a shoe-store giveaway in 1954. Then there’s a 1966 promotion, which even saw Nick Fury and Millie the Model join in. According to the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Creators website: “The Marvel Mini-Books were released via gumball vending machines. They are the smallest ‘comics’ ever made, measuring just 5/8-in. x 7/8-in. with 50 black-and-white interior pages. Each issue was released with six different cover colors.” The much-beloved Slurpee Cups licensing campaign in 1975 led to a sequel line and a trio of free comics produced for 7-Eleven. By the 1980s, the sort of house ad PSAs so popular with readers of Superman and Batman were becoming full-blown comic books on topics such as drugs, child abuse, and dental care. Promotions associated with the cinematic universes reap staggering publicity today. In the BACK ISSUE era, the creative licensing of comic-book characters was largely a publishing venture, with custom comics and licensed properties often produced by the in-house production staffs, such as the Marvel Bullpen. Marvel Custom Solutions, its successor, is a modern cottage industry of artistic talent, devoted to the nowmassive lineup of companies eager to be shielded with some of the Captain America star power.

THE CUSTOM COMICS DIVISION STORY

Marvel Custom Comics were advertising supplements and mini-comic giveaways, corporate-advertising uses of Marvel characters to associate a brand with goodwill and provide publicity. They were colorful bonuses that reached many children who may or may not have ever become comics collectors. For readers of monthly

comics they were curiosities, rarely seen outside their cities of origin. They might be the definition of a completist’s collectible. Some promos were reprints, such as those sponsored by All Detergent (one reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #21, #94, and the Dr. Strange team-up in Annual #2; the other reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #184) and Fruit Roll-Ups. Then you have original material, drawn by Jim Mooney, Kerry Gammill, and Alan Kupperberg— all passing under the watchful eye of art director Romita. Early efforts include the America’s Best TV Comics promotion in 1967, coinciding with the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man cartoons on Saturday morning TV, and the Evel Knievel bike-safety adventure Marvel published in 1974, covered elsewhere in this issue. Good thing Papercutz editor-in-chief Jim Salicrup is our eyewitness on the scene! CECIL DISHAROON: Did the Custom Comics effort basically grow out of the same licensing approach that brought us the Hostess comic ads? [See BI #130 for the Hostess story.—ed.] I just realized, those are the original custom Marvel comics, in a way. JIM SALICRUP: Well, as you mention, the very first Marvel comic, Motion Picture Funnies, could be considered a custom comic. In the early ’60s, Marvel published the early Big Boy comics that were free giveaway comics at that chain of fast-food restaurants [see BI #39—ed.].

Let’s Talk About Sex Certainly the most non-traditional Marvel client for a custom comic was Planned Parenthood, for whom this 1976 one-shot, The Amazing Spider-Man vs. the Prodigy!, was produced. Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. TM & © Marvel.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 21

“Mm-mm, good!” And “Hmmm… weird!” Original Herb Trimpe/John Romita, Sr. cover art (What? Andy Warhol wasn’t available?) to the 1980 Captain America and the Campbell Kids custom comic. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel. TM & © Campbell Soup.

Stan Lee wrote them, artists such as Stan Goldberg, Dan DeCarlo, and Sol Brodsky drew them. I suspect that Marvel was offered the job of creating those comics, and unlike creating their own comics, the income from producing the Big Boy comics was guaranteed, something irresistible to any risk-averse publisher. Sol Brodsky was very much involved in putting those Big Boy comics together, and Sol later on was very much a part of Marvel doing custom comics—his Special Projects Department, with art directors John Romita, Sr. and Marie Severin, would produce the vast majority of them with either David Anthony Kraft or me working as editor. DISHAROON: How did Marvel’s venture into custom comics begin in the late 1970s? SALICRUP: I don’t know for sure, but my guess would be that many of these projects originally came to Marvel, and were given to Sol Brodsky to handle so as not to get in the way of the production of the monthly color comics. After a while, they were probably seen as a potential ongoing new revenue source, and Nancy Allen was put in charge of developing a Custom Comics department. DISHAROON: How were creative teams put together?

SALICRUP: Basically, there were two big departments (amongst others) at Marvel—the biggest was producing the monthly color comics (and everything else, such as Annuals, special editions, etc.) and the Special Projects department headed by Jolly Solly Brodsky. I had worked for Sol in many capacities—in the British Department (which Sol also headed) as a production guy (adding gray tones, doing paste-ups, assembling covers, doing color separations) and as an editor. We had a great working relationship, so it seemed like I always worked with Sol over the years. I guess because of that, Sol enjoyed working with me, and would use me whenever he could on all sorts of projects. Generally Sol, like me, would enjoy working with many of the same people over and over again. It was a combination of loyalty and knowing what to expect from his creators. DISHAROON: With whom did you work on developing the stories for the tabloid-sized inserts? Who chose the characters and content? SALICRUP: Essentially, projects would be handed down to Sol to put together. David Anthony Kraft or I were usually the writer/editor, but Sol was like the editorin-chief. Stories mainly had to be approved by whoever the clients were, and didn’t have to go through any other Marvel editors, especially since these were all non-canon stories. David or I were trusted to make sure the characters stayed in character as much as possible. During the ’70s, when many of these stories would feature Spidey, Hulk, and Captain America (mainly because of Spidey and Hulk’s TV exposure), I secretly wanted to treat them like the Three Stooges. Instead of contriving reasons for the three characters to get together every time, I wanted them to all live together— and even sleep in the same bed like the Stooges did. I knew they’d never let me do that, but that’s what I would’ve loved to have done! DISHAROON: I love it! Any special hiccups involved with distributing Marvels through the newspaper? SALICRUP: None that I’m aware of. I think it was a win/win deal. The newspapers would be able to attract younger readers through the Marvel inserts, and Marvel would be able to offer the large circulations of the newspapers to their clients. In 1978, the division published mini-comics that were paired with Pez dispensers. DC Comics was part of the project with mini-comics that featured the Flash, while Spider-Man starred in Marvel’s candy comics. In one, Spidey tangles with a giant version of the Lizard, while the other features the Ringer, a then-contemporary Defenders foe who tips the hand of the anonymous author: Defenders scribe David Anthony Kraft. “Freelancers passed on writing these things,” Kraft, who sadly passed away in 2021 (see sidebar), told BI shortly before his death. “It’s not in canon; they’re not ‘real’ Marvel Comics. I saw it as fun, easy work. “By that time, I was writing coloring books—one with the Watcher is adapted from one of my favorite Hulk stories [Tales to Astonish #74],” Kraft said. “I wrote for Marvel’s foreign editions—stuff practically no one in America would ever see.” Looking for more obscure custom comics? How about the three Topps Chewing Gum joke strips with Spider-Man? They, and the All Detergent issues, came out in 1979. General Mills cereals and Dingo Boots also sponsored promo comics at the time, such as a heroes’ puzzles and games book. Full issues with original material were still uncommon, though Ross Andru did illustrate one for Planned Parenthood in 1976: The Amazing Spider-Man vs. the Prodigy, featuring an alien encouraging

22 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

illustrated description—was claimed by irresponsible teen sex to people on David Anthony Kraft, who wrote and his extraterrestrial farm. designed many house ads of the time. In 1980, Aim Toothpaste partnered Kraft paired Captain America and with Marvel for a dentistry-themed the Hulk versus Magneto, and gave clash between Spider-Man and the Spider-Woman her own battle with Green Goblin. With repeated dental Dr. Doom. The last of the trio was scenarios and fights, Marv Wolfman john romita, sr. his—and the fans’—overall favorite: and Alex Saviuk at least fill the free a one-time team of the heaviest PR comic with a generous quanti- Eliot R. Brown. hitters the company had trademarked ty of action. A 1982 sequel, set at Cape Canaveral, features a story more suited to a Dr. at the time, with the Enchantress standing in for the Loki role in catalyzing the heroes to… assemble. Octopus scheme. “It’s a good match-up, power-wise,” Kraft noted to BACK ISSUE. “You’ve got the skill-position leader, 1981: 7-ELEVEN GETS THE PERFECT in Cap; Hulk for your bruiser; Spider-Woman’s got AVENGERS? Licensing was key to Marvel’s recovery from a 1970s venom blasts and glides, which pretty much gets slump. The expansion of custom comics reflects an turned into flying. She and Spidey contribute stealth experiment with changing distribution. The decline of and agility—plus his warning sense, yeah! Hulk leaps smaller community stores, as noted on the company’s away from the 7-Eleven at the conclusion—but how corporate history page, left them at the mercy of do the others go home?” We mused over the rural large supermarket chains that decreasingly carried location of your average 7-Eleven back then. “You notice, at the end, I had to let them come up comic books. A trio of mini-comics was developed for 7-Eleven, with an excuse not to get together all the time!” which had revived the Slurpee Cup line and partnered Kraft continued. “But, if you’re Marvel, these are [the with Marvel to publish centerfold ads about competitions, characters that] the kids know best! You have Spidersuch as the one written for Clark Bars. That promotion, Woman, spinning off in her own Saturday morning incidentally, also involved custom-created content cartoon, and the rest? Marvel’s big-hitters! “That wasn’t [editor-in-chief and Avengers scribe, as a prize, featuring the winner’s likeness in a Marvel Comic. The memorable advertising copy for that one— Jim] Shooter’s idea of the Avengers. But think about it!” where Dr. Doom announces the contest, in a four-page continued on page 26

Romita Takes Aim From the Heritage archives, original art for two custom comic covers, by Jazzy Johnny Romita (inked by Joltin’ Joe Sinnott on the Green Goblin cover), and their published versions. TM & © Marvel.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

Cowboys and Mutants (this page and opposite) Courtesy of kindhearted Kerry Gammill, a selection of Marie Severin’s roughs (below) and Kerry’s penciled pages and a cover from his Dallas Cowboys and X-Men/State Fair custom comics. TM & © Marvel.

24 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

kerry gammill Twitter.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

Hulk Has New Friend From the Heritage archives, the Incredible You-Know-Who and a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader in an undated John Romita, Sr. sketch—not something you see every day! Hulk TM & © Marvel. Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders © Dallas Cowboys.

continued from page 23

TEXAS ROUNDUP

The custom comics strategy was an attempt to partner with kitchen-table brands, and then to work with large retail chain stores, which grew to dominate the business narrative. Starting with “The Battle of the Century!” in a 1979 edition of the Columbus Dispatch, Marvel began rolling out its new custom comics partnership with national newspapers— some of which had already been part of efforts to syndicate strips like Amazing Spider-Man and Howard the Duck [which you’ll read about soon in BI #136, our Bronze Age Comic Strips issue!—ed.]. When it comes to Q scores—or public recognition as defined by marketing strategists—around 1980, there were few institutions so popular in America as the Dallas Cowboys and their photogenic cheerleader squad. This may be what brought heads together to target emerging metropolitan Dallas for most of these national advertising efforts. With new cartoons on Saturday mornings at NBC, Spider-Man—and in one instance, his Amazing Friends—along with TV star The Incredible Hulk, were a terrific choice to fit with the “America’s Team” branding of the [head coach Tom] Landry-era Cowboys. Tony Dorsett and Roger Staubach were already Sunday afternoon stars, so creating an adventure climaxing in Texas Stadium seemed like a can’t-miss blitz. Beginning with the Back-to-School Special sponsored by Sanger-Harris in 1981, this market saw the greatest saturation of these comics. The Cheerleaders special with Hulk and Spider-Man appeared in 1982, in both the Dallas Times-Herald and the Tulsa World. The comics were also distributed directly by Sanger-Harris Department Stores. This chain originated when Federated bought Harris and merged it with their A. Sanger store to create the Sanger-Harris, a competitor to Neiman-Marcus. These stores had famous mosaic murals in many mall locations, such as Six Flags Mall and Red Bird Mall. The Denver Post also carried two inserts with the Web-Slinger and co-stars, featuring Hulk (“The Colorado Caper”) in 1982, and the Amazing Friends (“Danger in Dallas”) in 1983. Jones Store sponsored “Chaos in Kansas City!” in 1982, once more pairing Hulk with Spidey, this time against Kraven. Syndicated newspaper strips were the original goal of comics artists, back to the time of Superman, who made the building-high jump from comic books to the funnies in 1939—a sign of true success. For a season, comics themselves were coming to the papers. The Chicago Tribune carried “Obligation,” a Hulk/Spider-Man story written by Jim Shooter—with the only work I’ve found for Marvel by Tomeyuki Takanaka— in a 1980 Summer Edition. Since it had limited distribution, in 1983, Marvel editorial decided to reprint it in a new issue, Marvel Team-Up #126, as the B-story… well, the C-story, after Hulk and the Magic Snake, a toy advertisement reflecting the more corporate Marvel evolving in this era. Foley’s in Texas sponsored the one event featured in papers of three major cities. “The Great Rodeo Robbery” was published simultaneously in the San Antonio Express, the Austin Statesman, and the Houston Chronicles. Foley’s would eventually consolidate Sanger Harris in 1987. BACK ISSUE reached out to artist Kerry Gammill, who penciled Uncanny X-Men at the Texas State Fair. KERRY GAMMILL: [In addition to Uncanny X-Men at the Texas State Fair,] I also penciled The Dallas Cowboys and Spider-Man over Marie Severin’s layouts.” [Author’s note: The Bullpen’s most renowned caricaturist and primary cover designer, Marie Severin also crafted the story.] They were both for the Dallas Times Herald newspaper and were included free with the Sunday paper one week. The first one I did was The Dallas Cowboys and Spider-Man. I don’t remember how it came about. John Romita’s department handled all those thing of projects. They might have asked if I wanted to do it because I lived in the Dallas area. I worked from rough layouts by Marie Severin. Marie did only very basic drawings of the Cowboys players’ faces in a few panels. Just enough to show 26 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Alas, even with a legendary Spider-editor aboard, Marvel’s newspaper tabloid supplements disappeared after 1983. But custom comics have become a sign of business success, and a unique insertion of our colorful characters into the wider culture. If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe Jim Salicrup: “The Spider-Man, Power Pack Child Abuse Prevention comic was a favorite that I wrote [the Spider-Man story; Louise Simonson wrote the Power Pack tale] and edited,” Salicrup says. “That story was published as a comic, as tabloid newspaper pages, even as a slideshow. Over 14 million copies were published. It even inspired a song by the group the Black Lips. But I loved everything I did there—from Kool-Aid Man comics to The A-Team comics—it was all great fun!” Custom comics: A spirit of fun, in disposable windows into the Marvel Universe. They are signposts of a time when comic books were a childhood hobby, and a source of delight spread through the family. Writer/songwriter CECIL DISHAROON is the author of Be Chill, Cease Ill (2015), Anywhere with You: A Southern Gothic Romance (2014), and the IDW comic book Hero Duty (with Joe Phillips).

“KRAFT JOY,” A EULOGY

What Comics Creator David Anthony Kraft Meant to Me

by Cecil Disharoon

All covers TM & © Marvel, except Devil-Slayer, TM & © estates of David Anthony Kraft and Rich Buckler.

who was who. Most of the times they had helmets on, so you just had to get their numbers right. I usually watched the Cowboys games, but wasn’t enough of a football fan to know more than the most prominent players. In some action panels with unspecified players I just put random numbers on their shirts. I was told later by my brother-in-law that some of those players weren’t on the team anymore. Apparently, sports fans notice things like that. DISHAROON: They do. And rosters change each season, so do comics’ lead times. Did you go see the State Fair that year? GAMMILL: The next one I did was The X-Men at the State Fair of Texas. Since I was close enough, I went to Fair Park in Dallas where they have the State Fair every year. I took some photos and got some photos and material from the State Fair’s office. I remember the woman who provided the material noticing that one photo she gave me showed the overhead gondola ride that used to be there and telling me to make sure not to include it. It had recently been taken down after a tragic accident so showing it in the comic would have been very bad. I worked from a script, and I designed a new centaurtype mutant character. Nothing to design, really. It was just a boy who was part winged horse. It was cool getting to draw the X-Men, who were really hot then. And it was fun drawing “Big Tex,” the Fair’s iconic giant cowboy that I had seen all my life. DISHAROON: And the finished product came out in your area newspaper! Did you get your own copies? GAMMILL: A local comics shop owner had a deal to get the comics directly and he ordered me something like 50 copies of each one, which I sold at conventions for years. One fond memory I have from years later was seeing John Romita [Sr.] at the San Diego Comic-Con and saying hi. He called to his wife down the hallway and said, “Virginia! Remember Kerry Gammill from Texas?” Nice that he remembered me from those comics.

My laughs vary to the occasion, like anyone’s, but there is a hale sort of boisterous expression of joy in this one kind I feel mimics this signature delight I heard in David Anthony Kraft’s laughter. When my wife told me she’d discovered she was wearing her yoga pants backwards, I had one of those giant-like, musical exclamations. He delighted in conversations that made professional-grade comedic medicine, with a mania at times for improvising puns and callbacks. Then away we’d go again to the dragon’s hoard of Marvel Comics Group memories. Kraft, or DAK, was so busy there, he once invited a friend along to shadow him for a few hours at 575 Madison Avenue, a place Jim Starlin once chose to set a futile showdown with Death itself. When they took a break from the office to talk, DAK told me his friend asked if he was in charge there. While he was clearly taken aback, Kraft also took pride in that observation, of what it looks like from the outside when you see things getting done! That’s what he was to Marvel. Now, thanks to that Pez comic I got on vacation, when I at last walked into the local Fina filling station with two quarters to spend, I became excited: the Ringer! There, portrayed by John Byrne, the nimble superhero in a rooftop confrontation that brings to mind a circus, its elements thrown into a blender here courtesy of Roger Stern. In 1981, I was collecting ring-shaped toys to take outside and fling as the Ringer. I decided the miscolored blue costume on the cover of his second canonical Marvel appearance—Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #58—could be the basis of a hero using those gadgets. I spent hours playing the Ringer because it was something I could actually cobble together! I even attempted to make his mask from leather straps, too. But I didn’t learn crafting as a boy, just Krafting. Two months later, I committed a sin for which artist Ron Frenz told me I should take a dollar for the offering plate of the neighborhood church of my choice. But what could be more Christian in values than a Devil-Slayer? Once again, I would encounter one of the terrific David Anthony Kraft co-creations, the Rich Buckler-drawn Demon Hunter one-shot from Atlas/Seaboard Comics, the hero who became Marvel’s Devil-Slayer, the soldier of fortune with the shadow cloak, a vanguard against all demon-kind. Here was another character for whom I might fashion a hood, but also a cloak, and of course those signature straps across the uniform, cosplaying back when it was just something a weird kid free of prying eyes did in rebellion against simply growing up without question. I mean, every weapon! A sixth sense! Teleporting? Definitely a man bad enough to pull off buccaneer boots (which I never had). Once more, I missed DAK scripting Marvel Team-Up, which he’d done, two issues before—ahh, the same time I chose that Ringer and Spider-Man comic, and experienced some of my first nostalgia. Yes, for a

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

character from a mini-comic he made! (Of course, the Ringer first appears in Defenders #51, to steal from Richmond Enterprises and ask Nighthawk why he fights for the rich.) By that Christmas, I’d have my first comic with the star of his contemporary monthly series, The Savage She-Hulk, herself: another, earlier Marvel Team-Up, #107, in a Christmastime stash my folks bought at D&L Supply, this time written by Tom DeFalco and Denny O’Neil. But once again, I was hooked on the character for good. I never didn’t love She-Hulk. Jennifer Walters— and DAK affirmed this—seemed a WKRP Bailey Quarters-type, but armed with a law degree. I was glad Spider-Man apologized and she accepted, and then they teamed up. But I did finally get my first DAK comic that Christmas, too, and it was my favorite comic book. If the second thing DAK gave me was these terrific characters to play, then the third is something I realized, as my wife and I completed our ATM transaction, that I’m still looking for to this day. Defenders #61 teased us with Spider-Man himself crossing paths with, really, the only team where he might make sense, at that Marvel Time. We get yet another DAK creation, too, this pop lyricquoting maniac geared exactly to antagonizing a stoic like the Valkyrie: Lunatik. The character’s very-apparent secret identity— a professor on Empire Statue University Campus—I found in recent years, dates back to the very first color stories Kraft wrote, Man-Wolf, for Creatures on the Loose. I’m pretty sure my parents saw “Batman,” “Catwoman,” “the Joker,” and the Hulk all on a cover with Spider-Man and knew that would be one for me. Some of my activity and coloring books, I’d later find from talking with him? Also DAK-penned. Or Salicrup. While the recently relaxed Comics Code couldn’t catch the Lunatik, either, the rest of the comic showed glimpses of the non-team’s downtime life. That, and the strangely colored 1978 pages of the Presence, haunting the Siberian nuclear testing wastelands. The depiction of Sergei and the transformed Red Guardian was an eerie fantasy, and made Little Me wonder about nuclear power, the Cold War, and this sad being like no other. But every scene where people stopped to talk enraptured me. I loved how bright and sexy Hellcat was. I couldn’t see why Spider-Man wouldn’t ask her out, after their one web-glopped encounter led to a truce and, well, non-team work. That living room set in Richmond Riding Academy, Kyle Richmond serving tea on a platter to Val and Dollar Bill, the filmmaking enthusiast who got in the Valkyrie’s friend zone on campus, Hulk standing in for the reader demanding a show,

and Hellcat twirling ribbons of the shadow cloak she’d recently attained. The ease and banter of that scene—of every such first scene DAK did on the series, really—gave me a craving for something the other cartoons and comics never had. Besides Patsy Walker. That camaraderie—that freewheeling trip to the ESU campus, where the lead heroine admits she has no driver’s license. “Heck no, Val! I’ve got Avengers Priority!” The character whose signature “Cheese and crackers!” line and much of her dialogue were inspired by the New Yorker, and her solemn blonde friend, struck a colorful pop culture blow for the idea of picking up life and its choices if “happily ever after” just isn’t. There was something way more mature under the costumed surface than I’d seen in Saturday cartoons and fairy tales. Later, I’d discover the real Devil-Slayer in his Defenders guest role in issues #58–60 (those last two took a while longer to find!). That rock-inspired story arc opened the door, one day, to hours of imitating Buck Dharma licks on Blue Oyster Cult songs. DAK had something memorable with that group of characters. Heck, even the Hulk bailing on “Bird Nose’s” stupid plan—a lot of readers couldn’t have agreed more— is part of that wonderful scene where Dollar Bill films Patsy’s stunts with the horses. A living room with a vivacious, redheaded daredevil, a reserved but straightforward later-life college student, a financially blessed guy who wants to be in the middle of something that matters, an effusive film student, and even a big guy who gets angry in the event of unexpectedly materialized Orrt Beasts… sure, that all sounds fine. I feel my life finally taking me once more to the paths of other people outside the conventional ways. DAK’s Defenders show that it’s okay to hang out and do things together, not because you’re a family or a school or officially anything. What you pay 35 cents to see is friends who would do anything for each other. That’s one last thing DAK gave me: talks with his friends. I made peace with his passing better because we, his friends, connected a little, and remade his life in stories for an afternoon—his birthday, in fact. If you want, feel free to celebrate Dollar Bill’s Birthday Global Extravaganza every year on May 31st. Remember Ledge, too, a tip of the hat to Lobo co-creator Roger Slifer, who co-wrote that first Defenders script with DAK over a weekend, with no notes from the departed writer, Gerry Conway, and unexplained pages by Keith Giffen to script. It’s not uncommon to find, in some supporting character, a real person in DAK’s life, even, via Dollar Bill, Dave himself. So, I’m thinking of my sidebar, and as we put our withdrawal into the wallet, I saw I had two dollar bills. I thought of the fellow sitting on the sidewalk by Table Mesa Road, and today, a dollar bill could do him a little good. I continued describing the camaraderie of the “DAKfenders” to my wife Angela on the way back, pointing out the truck with “DAKUNE” emblazoned on its tailgate. I saw three young women pass the fellow sitting there with his drink as Angela and I got closer. I held out my dollar bill and said, “Hey, man, I didn’t have my wallet the other day, but I saw you… no problem, do something good for yourself with it.” Suddenly, in my peripheral view came two more dollar bills—from two of those young women, who saw me and felt resolved: it would be okay to step up and give. The man was effusive. Maybe somewhere I picked up the idea of helping those in need, and needed to see how would-be heroes are not, after all, always alone.

28 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

by M

ark Arnold

The Kool-Aid soft drink was created in 1927 by Edwin Perkins. He It’s Slobberin’ Time! experimented with foods in his mother’s kitchen. To create Kool-Aid, Oh, Yeah! Marvel’s tastiest tie-in comic, The Adventures Perkins discovered a way to remove liquid from a liquid concentrate known as Fruit Smack. The resulting powder was named Kool-Aid. of Kool-Aid Man! Originally, there were six flavors: cherry, grape, lemon-lime, orange, Kool-Aid © General Foods. raspberry, and strawberry. The popularity of Kool-Aid led to literally dozens of other flavors, plus made the terms “Drinking the Kool-Aid” and “The Electric DeCarlo was born on December 12, 1919. He worked for many Kool-Aid Acid Test” part of the general lexicon. years for Timely Comics and later Atlas Comics starting around 1947, Kool-Aid was independently owned until 1953, when it was on such titles as Sherry the Showgirl, Jeannie, My Friend Irma, and sold to General Foods. Shortly after, in 1954, General Foods Millie the Model. By 1951, he moved on to Archie Comics while created the Kool-Aid Man character, which was literally a still freelancing for Atlas as well as Standard. He became transparent glass pitcher filled with ice cold Kool-Aid. the star artist on most of their covers and also became His face was created by finger-drawing through the resident artist on Archie’s Girls, Betty and Veronica. the condensation on the glass. The creation of He also created Josie and a few other characters. His the character is credited to Marvin Potts, the art influence on the Archie line had a profound effect of director for General Foods, where he was originally modernizing the Archie characters and became the dubbed “Pitcher Man.” model for the company until 2015, when a more Initially, Kool-Aid Man appeared only on the powder realistic model took over. DeCarlo’s influence was not packets, but soon he was appearing in TV commercials forgotten, and in recent times longtime artists like and in print ads. He first appeared in animated form, but Dan Parent were asked to create more new stories in by the 1970s was played by a man in a costume who the classic DeCarlo-influenced Archie designs. would burst through a wall shouting, “Oh, yeah!,” The first Kool-Aid Man-related comic books were singing one of many commercials jingles created promotional tie-ins published by General Foods in EDWIN perkins over the years for the product like, “Kool-Aid’s here 1975 and called Kool-Aid Komics. At least two issues bringing you fun. Kool-Aid’s got thirst on the run!” are known to exist and feature comics, puzzles, and Eventually, Kool-Aid Man started appearing in his own promotional games with various characters including the Kool-Aid Man. The books comic books. These comics were published through Marvel Comics were 20 pages in length. or Archie Publications and used many of Archie’s artists and writers The next series was called The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man, drawn including Dan DeCarlo and Stan Goldberg. by Dan DeCarlo and written by Jim Salicrup. The series lasted for three Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 29

dan decarlo

Far-Out Funnybook

Facebook.

(top left) Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), original Dan DeCarlo/Joe Giella art page to Marvel’s first issue. (top right) The same page in its colored, printed form. (bottom) Covers to issues #4 and 5, from Archie Comics. Cover art by Dan DeCarlo. Kool-Aid © General Foods.

30 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

issues, from 1983–1985, and was published by Marvel Comics. John Romita, Sr. contributed the artwork for the first cover. Romita was assuredly chosen to do the cover on the first Marvel Comics edition of Kool-Aid Man as a grabber. By the time of this release, Romita was probably the biggest name still working at Marvel Comics. He became a superstar after being tagged as the second artist of the Amazing Spider-Man comic book, taking over after Steve Ditko left. When questioned about Spidey Super Stories at a convention appearance back in the ’90s, Romita said, “I always enjoyed doing the promotional tie-in comics at Marvel, which is why I worked on Spidey Super Stories, which was a tie-in for The Electric Company TV show, as well as a good promotion to help kids start to read.” Salicrup was mostly an editor for Marvel during this period. He wrote many other adaptations and commercial tie-in comic books, so this project was in line with the other Marvel Comics he was writing at the time. After his time at Marvel, Salicrup went on to become editor-in-chief for Papercutz, which continued on making graphic novels based upon licensed properties. Inking for this initial series was done by Joe Giella, who was an inker for DC during most of the Silver Age. In later years, he became an artist on the Mary Worth comic strip. Coloring for these issues were done by Marvel’s Marie Severin (1929–2018) and Stan Goldberg (1932–2014), who became best known for his work on Archie Comics, similar to Dan DeCarlo. After DeCarlo’s departure from Archie in 2000 and death in 2001, Goldberg became the premier Archie artist until his death. Tom DeFalco was an editor at Marvel and recalls his work on the Kool-Aid Man promotion: “I seem to remember that I was already at Marvel when I worked on my one and only Kool-Aid Man. All I remember is the Kool-Aid Man licensing person wanted far more shades of red than we could supply in those days. I even gave her a color chart, which showed all the colors comic books could print. She kept asking for shades between our existing colors and didn’t believe me when I said those shades couldn’t be printed with our then-current printers and presses.” Eventually, Archie Publications took over and continued the series of The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man from 1987–1989, for a total of six issues beginning with #4. Once again Dan DeCarlo was the main artist, but now Michael Pellowski wrote the scripts. The tone of the series shifted from somewhat serious to more silly. There were also Kool-Aid Man strips that ran as regular comicbook advertising during and after these books were produced. Dan Parent, who was working at Archie when DeCarlo was doing Kool-Aid Man, remembers, “I’m not sure how Archie got the gig, but it was at Marvel Comics a few times, too. I never worked on these, but I did some production work on the books. Dan DeCarlo liked these projects because licensed books like this paid a much higher page rate! Dan worked on this even when it was at Marvel, at least a couple of times that I know of. I think the comics came out well, but with Dan DeCarlo drawing them, there’s no way they could look bad! I wish I was more involved in that book, but I was basically in production at the time.” After six years, the comic-book promotional tie-in campaign ran its course. The Kool-Aid Man is an iconic character of advertising and still appears in print ads and TV ads to this day, and who knows, may make a return appearance as the star of his own comic book again some day.

Bronze Age Flavor (top) The rare, pre-Marvel 1975 first issue of Kool-Aid Komics. (bottom) Joe Giella-drawn inside front cover ad to Marvel’s The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man #1. Kool-Aid © General Foods.

MARK ARNOLD is a pop-culture historian with over 15 books to his credit on subjects ranging from The Monkees, The Beatles, Underdog, Pink Panther, Cracked, Disney, Dennis the Menace, and more. He is currently at work on another Disney book and a book on the history of MAD.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

32 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Like pieces of kryptonite meandering through space after Krypton’s destruction, the DC Explosion/Implosion of 1978 continues to leave unpublished stories in its wake that occasionally crash-land for us to discover in the pages of BACK ISSUE. Michael Uslan, The Boy Who Loved Batman author and producer of the legendary Batman movies, wrote several stories featuring members of the Justice Society of America, as well as Congorilla, in a “Tales from Earth-Two” backup series, hereby dubbed “Tales from Earth-U(slan).”

THE BOY WHO LOVED EARTH-TWO

by D

a n Ta n d a r i c h

In 1978, DC Comics wanted to expand its titles and their stories in an era called the DC Explosion. Backup tales spotlighted characters that couldn’t hold their own titles sales-wise but continued to remain favorites among the readers. When Uslan heard that DC wanted to tell more of these kinds of stories, he offered up “Tales from Earth-Two,” which would highlight characters from that parallel world in the DC Universe and give updates. Though first on the superhero scene, the world of the Justice Society of America became retroactively known as Earth-Two, compared to the new crop of heroes now combined to form the Justice League of America on Earth-One. All-Star Comics featured the Justice Society of America, revived with #58 (Jan.–Feb. 1976). The original superhero team remained a favorite with readers, but not everyone received equal screen time. Uslan’s proposed backup series could change that. Mr. Terrific, Hourman, Sandman, Johnny Thunder, and Robin, as well as non-JSA members Congorilla and the new Seven Soldiers of Victory, could fill in the blank of the question, Whatever happened to...? Uslan reveals to BACK ISSUE how he received the assignments: “I started working at DC Comics in 1972… I was part of the DC Junior Woodchucks, the first generation of fans being groomed for professional positions at DC. I was in law school in Indiana from 1973 to 1976, in addition to working some summers at DC Comics in New York. I stayed in touch with everyone there and was writing comic books for Julie Schwartz, Denny O’Neil, etc., through their assistant editors who were my fellow Woodchucks, Bob [Rozakis], Paul [Levitz], Alan Asherman, and Jack Harris. “That’s how I knew which editors were looking for what types of backups for the pre-Implosion comic books. To the best of my recollection, I pitched the series I called ‘Tales from Earth-Two’ to Julie Schwartz as a backup feature for the pre-Implosion Justice League of America. I submitted a one-liner on each of the first six or more characters I wanted to address. He approved those one-liners. Congorilla was to be the first one.” The contracts had a date of June 30, 1978, signed by both Uslan and Levitz. According to the contract details for Congorilla, Sandman, and Mr. Terrific, the scripts named Adventure as the “Feature” slot with page counts of seven, eight, and five, respectively, although Congorilla started with eight pages and Uslan would revise it to seven. By that date, DC was well into the Implosion phase of the DC Explosion era of its history, as documented in the invaluable

The Seven (and then some) Soldiers of Uslan The Sandman by Michael Bair, Hourman by Murphy Anderson, Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt by Dave Johnson, Robin by Mike Grell, Mr. Terrific by Stephen DeStefano and Romeo Tanghal, Aquaman by Paul Norris, and Congo Bill and Congorilla by Chuck Patton and Frank Giacoia. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

TwoMorrows Publishing book Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978 by Keith Dallas and John Wells. Upon seeing specific job numbers for the Uslan assignments, Wells wrote, “In the wake of the Implosion, Paul Levitz shuffled assignments to ensure that everyone remaining received their allotted pages... or assignments period. Based on the numbers, I see that Michael also received contracts for an Unexpected [“The Curse of Ozzie and Mary,” not published until Unexpected #194, Dec. 1979] and Weird War story [“Indian War of Space,” not published until Weird War #78, Aug. 1979] at the same time.” However, unlike his Unexpected and Weird War stories, Uslan’s Earth-Two backups would never see print due to the DC Implosion where stories and comic books would get pulled from the schedule. Why did the characters from Earth-Two and specifically the JSA appeal to him so much? Uslan explains, “I was and am a Golden Age fan since Flash #123 (Sept. 1961); Justice League of America #21, 22 (Aug.–Sept. 1963); Showcase Dr. Fate and Hourman (#55 and 56,

Mar.–Apr. and May–June 1965); Brave and the Bold Starman and Black Canary (#61 and 62, Aug.–Sept. and Oct.–Nov. 1965). My goal was to take these wonderful underserved heroes of the Golden Age and early Silver Age and serve them.” Uslan did try to get a Golden Age superhero in print before his 1978 stories, however. In the mid-’60s he started a one-kid letter writing campaign to editor Julie Schwartz demanding the Spectre return to active superhero duty. After some back and forth, he received a note from the editor stating that the Ghostly Guardian would haunt the pages of Showcase along with fellow JSA-er Dr. Mid-Nite, although when godlike powers are your specialty, who needs blackout bombs? Plans to team the Ghostly Guardian with the Spectre were dropped and the appeared solo in Showcase #60 (Jan.–Feb. 1966), 61 (Mar.– Apr. 1966), and 64 (Sept.–Oct. 1966).

FROM EARTH-U TO YOU

Now, let’s shine a spotlight—a Batsignal, if you will—on these unpublished tales, the “Tales from EarthU(slan)”!

Whatever Happened to... the Sandman?

Wesley Dodds donned a suit, cape, fedora, and a gas mask, along with his gas gun, as a “weird figure of the night... a modern Robin Hoodfriend of the afflicted” in order to bring “justice in a world of injustice” (New York World’s Fair Comics, 1939). “My goal was to give DC Comics its own Shadow,” Uslan reveals to BACK ISSUE. The villains of Earth-Two would find out that “Crime does not pay” as the Sandman would have “a fearsome network of agents reporting to him,” just like The Shadow, the mysterious hero from pulp magazines and radio. “DC no longer had the rights to The Shadow,” Uslan continues. “It would be as if Denny [O’Neil] and I could continue writing Shadow comics...” (Uslan made his debut as a comic-book writer in The Shadow #9, Feb.–Mar. 1975, with O’Neil as editor.) Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Sandman would have found out!

Whatever Happened to... Hourman?

“Rex Tyler, a young chemist, discovers Miraclo, a powerful chemical that transforms him from a meek, mild scientist to the underworld’s most formidable foe... with Miraclo, he has for one hour the power of chained lightning,” as described in the pages of Adventure Comics #48 (Mar. 1940). In Uslan’s story, Rex “Tick-Tock” Tyler started to feel his physical condition deteriorating, and, still popping his Miraclo pills, had to fight the demon of addiction as he hit rock bottom. Uslan shares, “This was going to be a serious treatment of addiction, inspired by what Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams had done in the pages of Green Lantern/Green Arrow [#85, Aug.–Sept. 1971 and 86, Oct.–Nov. 1971]. Writer and JSA aficionado Roy Thomas revealed Hourman as a Miraclo addict in the pages of All-Star Squadron starting with #32 (Apr. 1984) and continuing with #34–35 (June–July 1984), where he went through withdrawal symptoms. Thomas muses in regard to Uslan’s proposed story, “Not surprised that both Mike and I came up independently with the Miraclo addiction idea...”

Whatever Happened to... Johnny Thunder?

The Sandman Knows (this page) Uslan, who wrote issue #9 (Feb.–Mar. 1975) of The Shadow, intended to make the Golden Age Sandman DC’s equivalent of the classic pulp hero. Shadow cover art by Joe Kubert. (opposite page) Sandman by Marshall Rogers. Detail from the cover of Amazing World of DC Comics #16 (Dec. 1977). TM & © DC Comics.

Golden Age journeyman Johnny Thunder didn’t have any superpowers of his own. However, his uttering the Badhnisian word “Cei-U” gave him control of a magical thunderbolt of a genie, thanks to his lucky birth date of July 7, 1917 and the group of Badhnisians who kidnapped him in Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940). Uslan’s story had Johnny and his magical pink thunderbolt merge into one superhero. “I felt Johnny was the weakest character of DC’s Golden Age/JSA and wanted to make him into a serious yet unique superhero for the ’70s and beyond,” according to Uslan. “By combining him with his thunderbolt, I was picturing a character somewhat more akin to the Red Tornado or the Vision. He would have been half-human/half-genie as opposed to an android or robot hybrid.” Again, great minds think alike, as both Uslan and Roy Thomas would have overlapping ideas. Thomas adds, “A couple of years later, my wife Dann and I came up with Jonni Thunder (Jonni Thunder #1, Feb. 1985), who combined human and thunderbolt in one persona...”

34 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Whatever Happened to... Robin of Earth-Two?

Justice League of America #55 (Aug. 1967) featured the debut of the grownup Robin, the former Boy Wonder. “I want to thank the Justice Society for fulfilling my life’s ambition to be a member of such a distinguished group!” he said. “I’ll do my best to prove worthy of the honor!” Uslan’s story would have focused on the difficulties of Robin trying to become Batman’s successor as he wanted to win the respect of the Justice Society of America. “Nightwing before there was a Nightwing,” adds Uslan.

Whatever Happened to... Mr. Terrific?

Terry (Mr. Terrific) Sloane made his first appearance in Sensation Comics #1 (Jan. 1942) as... “The human dynamo who is stumped by nothing! There have been no feats in history that he has not or can not duplicate for he is master of every art and science!” This Man of a Thousand Talents specialized in “Fair Play,” as emblazoned on his costume. Uslan reveals to BACK ISSUE, “For this story, Mr. Terrific was determined to make a comeback, but he was a lot older and a bit out of shape. He basically gets the sh*t kicked out of him by the bad guys and after his first debacle, throws in the towel, and calls it quits.” Justice League of America #171 (Oct. 1979) made this mystery man’s retirement much more permanent.

Whatever Happened to... the Seven Soldiers of Victory?

The Golden Age super-team the Seven Soldiers of Victory—also known as the Law’s Legionnaires—made their debut in Leading Comics #1 (Winter 1941–1942). The original members of the team were Green Arrow and Speedy, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, the Vigilante, the Shining Knight, and the Crimson Avenger plus his sidekick, Wing. Uslan’s update of the team kept Green Arrow and Speedy and the Crimson Avenger, and added new members Starman, the original Aquaman, Congorilla, the original Robotman, and the sorceress Sargona. Just like with the original group, eight members made up the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Thinking back on the concept now, Uslan shares, “I’m surprised I didn’t throw Johnny Quick in there. I was looking to serve some underserved DC characters by making something new out of them. I would have turned Starman into a bit more of a Green Lantern-type cosmic character... maybe a bit of Adam Strange... involved in space-fantasy adventures more befitting his name.” Regarding Sargona, “I was looking for modern takes on Golden Age or Silver Age DC heroes who were removed from the spotlight, and felt we needed a female lead. I decided to go with the daughter of Sargon the Sorceror.” Uslan still has one question about the original Seven Soldiers of Victory concept. “To this day I cannot understand, from a creative point of view, why Aquaman was not part of the original team, though from a business point of view I accept that the DC plan was to use one feature from each of its non-All-American Comics Group titles.”

Whatever Happened to... Congorilla?

World-famous big game hunter Congo Bill, who had been a staple of DC Comics stories dating back to More Fun Comics #56 (June 1940), got a weird secret origin in Action Comics #248 (Jan. 1959): “...A switch of identities wherein a mighty gorilla acquires the brilliant mind of Congo Bill, and the brute brain of the gorilla enters the body of the famed jungle-adventurer! You’ll see this startling transformation when you meet... the Amazing Congorilla!” Congo Bill wore a magic ring thanks to Chief Kawolo, a ring that matches the one worn by the gorilla. Uslan explains his love of the character: “The absurdity of it! Good old DC with its fetish for gorillas! As a little kid, I loved these stories, remembering them mostly as backups in Adventure Comics. I then thought the only thing that could possibly be more absurd would be not to follow the Golden Gorilla with the brain of Congo Bill, but to follow Congo Bill with the brain of the gorilla. It even could have logically become the backup in DC Comics’ wonderfully insane title, Plop!” In Uslan’s story, Congo Bill starts his tenure as TV host of the popular weekly broadcast Jungle Kingdom. After the show, his head starts to throb and he loses consciousness. Bill awakes to find his disgruntled

boss, Dan Denkert, looking over him along with the beautiful Nancy. [Michael Uslan is married to Nancy Uslan on Earth-Prime.] The Golden Gorilla stands caged before them. Bill to Nancy, direct from Uslan’s script: “You’re the only one who could have talked me into coming back to the States, Nancy—the only one who knows about my curse and why I live in such fear!” Flashback: Bill’s last adventure resulted in the destruction of both rings, his and the gorilla’s. His mind was trapped! Imagine you’re imprisoned inside a great ape with no way out! Miraculously, the transfer did occur, but who knows what will happen next time? Publicity-mad Denkert meets with Inspector Tracy Richards to discuss what the future could hold for Congo Bill. Richards: “Y’see, Denkert, with Congo Bill’s tracking and hunting abilities, the department could use him to track down some criminals—like that one called ‘The Man-Trapper.’” Congo Bill revives enough for a TV interview; however, the proximity of the beast proves disastrous. Uslan describes the scene: “This is the standard ‘metamorphosis’ panel showing Bill’s head in pain, his eyes rolling upward, sweating, on the left. In the center should be some kind of mind explosion effect. To the right is Congorilla’s head receiving Bill’s mind.” From the script: “My mind is in the ape’s body! Must break out of here—’cause if my mind is in this body, then the ape’s mind is now in Congo Bill’s body... on live TV!” Congo Bill goes wild on set as Congorilla escapes from his captivity and knocks Bill unconscious. The onlookers don’t realize Congorilla wants to help. Sensing the confusion, the Golden Gorilla picks up his other body and makes a run for it, though, in the ensuing firestorm of bullets, Congorilla gets shot and drops the body of Congo Bill as he exits from the nearest window. Cut to a padded cell in an isolated institution: Congo Bill, exhibiting all of the characteristics of a captured gorilla, struggles against a straightjacket. Inspector Richards vows to find the beast that “attacked” Congo Bill. Uslan reveals that his take on Congorilla “was to be The Fugitive as Congorilla, relentlessly pursued while he tries to figure out how to get to Bill and pull himself together. Bill was to be comic relief in the way that the scenes in Dracu- l a often were with Renfield. But the threat was always there that if Bill injured his body or killed it, he’d be forever trapped in the gorilla body.” The splash page to this story exists, illustrated by Marc Nadel, and is shared with BACK ISSUE readers in this article. “I knew Marc was an incredible artist,” Uslan says. “His style was wacky and wonderful and unique to DC Comics. I wrote that script first and asked Marc to do one or two sample pages. And the feeling was that his style fit this particular quirky story.” DC would later add a “Whatever Happened to...?” backup series to DC Comics Presents [see BACK ISSUE #64 for the full story—ed.]. But these “Tales from Earth-U(slan)” exist in a universe all their own. Special thanks to Mike W. Barr, Keith Dallas, Paul Levitz, Bob Rozakis, Roy Thomas, John Wells, and “Mighty” Michael Uslan. DAN TANDARICH is an educator in New York City. Contact him at yellowjacket74@hotmail. com.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

36 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

A ‘Tale from Earth-Two’ (this page and opposite) Courtesy of Michael Uslan, script pages for his “Tales from EarthTwo” feature, starring Congorilla. (left) Page 1 of Uslan’s Congorilla tale, illustrated by Marc Nadell. Congorilla TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

Advertise With Us! RetroFan & BrickJournal Ad Rates: Back cover or inside cover: $1000 ($900 for two or more) Full-page interior: $800 ($700 for two or more) Half-page interior: $500 ($425 for two or more) Quarter-page interior: $300 ($250 for two or more)

Alter Ego • Back Issue • Comic Book Creator • Draw • Jack Kirby Collector: Back cover or inside cover: $800 ($700 for two or more) Full-page interior: $600 ($500 for two or more) Half-page interior: $300 ($250 for two or more) Quarter-page interior: $150 ($125 for two or more) AD SIZES: COVERS & FULL-PAGE: 8.375” wide x 10.875” tall trim size, add 1/8” bleed. (7.625” x 10.125” live area.) HALF-PAGE: 7.625” x 4.875” live area (no bleeds). QUARTER-PAGE: 3.6875” x 4.875” live area (no bleeds).

Call or e-mail for frequency discounts! Send ad copy and payment (US funds) to: TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 919-449-0344 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com

We accept check, money order, and all major credit cards; include card number and expiration date.

These rates are for digital ads supplied (PDF, JPEG, TIF, EPS, InDesign, or Quark Xpress files acceptable). No agency discounts apply.

Art by John Romita. Captain America TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

by J o h n

Schwirian

I Want Candy! And a Secret Origins comic book, too! The display for Leaf Candy’s DC Secret Origins minicomics. Photos and scans accompanying this article are courtesy of its writer, John Schwirian. Characters TM & © DC Comics.

One fine summer day, a young boy receives his allowance, eagerly grabs his bike, and hits the road in search of this week’s new comic books. As he visits the various pharmacies and convenience stores near his home, his stomach growls, diverting him away from the spinner racks over to the candy aisle. There, his eyes delight at a new sight on the top shelf among the boxes of sports cards, Wacky Packages stickers [see our sister mag RetroFan #19—ed.], and various other trading cards. A bright yellow display cries out, “Hey kids! Comicbook candy,” and three tiers of brightly colored mini-comics featuring DC Comics’ greatest heroes call to him. In 1979, DC Comics and the Leaf Candy Company entered into a deal where DC would produce several mini-comics to be sold with packages of Leaf Candy. At the time, Leaf had success with several snacks like Whoppers and Milk Duds, but competition from Hershey, Nestle, and others necessitated new marketing strategies. Both companies benefited, with DC reaching consumers that did not peruse the comic-book stands, and Leaf exposing comic fans to their candy. Eight new comics would be packed with Tart N’ Tangy candies, hitting the stores in 1981. The Tart N’ Tangy candies were similar to Skittles, which had just made their American debut in 1979. Packaged and factory sealed separately so as not to damage the comics, the candies came in bright yellow, orange, red, green, and purple in counts of 12 or so in each bag. Thus, many packs of the Tart N’ Tangy candies survive today, but it is doubtful that they are still safe to eat! DC developed the mini-comics around its popular “Secret Origins” theme. This way, new readers would not only get an adventure starring a familiar superhero, but would also learn valuable information about the character’s beginnings and history. Eight mini-comics were made, featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the Justice League of America. Each comic measured 4¼” x 2¾”, fitting easily into any pocket. At that time, the comic/candy combo cost 35 cents, while a regular-sized comic ran 50 cents. Art on the display box consisted of the seven spotlighted heroes. Gaspar Saladino is believed to be the letterer. Each display box contained 36 randomly inserted comics, which meant that there was a good chance of assembling at least three and possibly even four sets out of each box. On the back of each comic was an advertisement stating that, for $1.50, you could send away for a Collector’s Album—a folder with art by Dick Giordano on the front and back covers displaying various members of the Justice League. The current stars of the mini-comics were on the front cover, while speculation among fans was that the back cover advertised the characters for a planned second series of mini-comics (shown on the back cover, encircling Hawkman, are Supergirl, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, the Atom, the Elongated Man, Firestorm, Zatanna, Green Arrow, and Black Canary). On the display box, above Hawkman’s shoulder, “series 1” is posted. No second series ever appeared, and it was more likely that Giordano used these heroes because the Justice League of America’s history included them briefly in that comic. The interior of the album consists of two pages with slots to hold four comics each. A black-and-white image of one of the comics indicates which book goes in which slot. No credits are given inside the comics, and information confirming the individuals involved in the creation of each comic is sketchy at best. Joe Orlando was in charge of DC Comics’ Special Projects division at the time, so most likely he edited the series. This division’s projects paid better than regular comics work, so creators lobbied for these jobs. “Freelancers,” DC writer Paul Kupperberg confirms, “did chase after licensing work. DC paid 1.5 times the page rate for these special assignments.” According to the Grand Comics Database (GCD), all eight covers were drawn by Dick Giordano. The GCD listing for each comic states that: “Dick Giordano in an email to the indexer has confirmed that he inked this cover, and suspects that he penciled it based on a layout from Carmine Infantino.” Many fans argue that the covers have a Curt Swan feel to them. Maybe Swan penciled and Giordano inked? The Comic Book Reader #191 (May–June 1981) provides a brief review that says the “candy is okay, but the comics are pretty nice.” It proceeds to list each comic’s artistic team, but it appears to be based on the writer’s personal opinion rather than verified facts, as shown by the question marks that follow several credits. Additionally, Tony Isabella’s blog in 2012 critiqued each comic in this series, with several of the creators identifying themselves in comments on Isabella’s entries. For instance, on November 18, 2012, Isabella updated a post, saying, “Anthony Tollin tells me he is pretty certain that his wife Adrienne Roy colored this Batman mini-comic.” Another example came on November 24, 2012, when Kurt Busiek

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

Collect ’em All! (top) Back and front cover to the Leaf Collector’s Album, with DC heroes rendered by Dick Giordano. (middle) Inside, collectors were shown where to insert their mini-comics. (bottom) Sample back cover of a mini-comic, providing an order form for the Album. Characters TM & © DC Comics.

remarked on the Wonder Woman review, saying, “Looks pretty clearly like John Costanza lettering, at least to me, but Todd Klein could probably identify it for sure.” Indeed, Todd Klein, the Eisner Award-winning comicbook letterer who started in the industry in 1977 and is still active today, not only identified the person that lettered Wonder Woman, he deduced the secret identities of the letterers of all eight comics! Klein confirmed his work on Hawkman and Justice League of America. “I have them listed on this page of my lettering archives, so I did letter them, but I recall nothing about them,” Klein tells BACK ISSUE. “I don’t even know how many pages they were.” After examining the remaining six issues, Klein states, “Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman are all by John Costanza. I’m not as sure on the rest, but I think Superman is by Ben Oda and Aquaman and Flash are by Milt Snapinn. I see on the GCD that I previously guessed Ben Oda for Aquaman, but with additional research done since then on Ben, I now think it’s not him. Milt Snapinn seems more likely.” No information on colorists is available other than Anthony Tollin taking credit for Green Lantern and his belief that Adrienne Roy colored Batman. Fortunately, pencilers and inkers are more easily recognized. That’s not to say that there is no controversy in this process. Writers prove to be a real challenge to pin down. Bob Rozakis is the first to speak out in this area, telling BI, “I don’t recall that much about this project. I believe the job came through our Special Projects department and I was one of the writers who regularly got pieces of such jobs. I did indeed write the Flash and Wonder Woman books. Paul Kupperberg was another who probably wrote a couple. Maybe Cary Burkett. Maybe Len Wein.” With guesswork being the typical response, several scripters in the data that follows eluded me. Whenever possible, credits were either confirmed by the person listed or by someone that worked at DC at that time. In addition to Cary Burkett and Len Wein, Elliott S! Maggin, Cary Bates, Dennis O’Neil, and E. Nelson Bridwell are possibilities. Gerry Conway, after looking at the comics, notes to BACK ISSUE, “Looking at all of these, I’m pretty sure I had nothing to do with these stories. DC did quite a few odd projects like this over the years (Roy Thomas and I worked on a pair for Atari), but these don’t feel familiar to me at all.” As each mini-comic is numbered as a first issue, the only indication for filing order can be based on the presentation in the Collector’s Album. This order will be used for reviewing each comic. With the exception of the Superman comic, the covers depict scenes with no connection to the story inside. It is hard to say how well this arrangement worked out for Leaf Candy, but it certainly served its purpose for DC Comics. Many testimonials appear online from readers admitting their childhood love of these mini-comics, with some confessing that they were their introduction to the world of comics. What a shame that names of so many creators of these comics remain unknown. Will their identities ever be revealed? The world may never know. The following pages recap each of the Leaf Secret Origins stories and include sample interior pages from the comics themselves. Special thanks to Gerry Conway, Todd Klein, Paul Kupperberg, Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, Bob Smith, and Tony Isabella’s Bloggy Thing. By day, JOHN SCHWIRIAN is a mildmannered college English professor, but by night, he dons the role of comicbook historian. In addition to his passion for Bronze Age comics, he explores the sunken regions of the DC Universe in his self-published fanzine, The Aquaman Chronicles.

40 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Script: unknown. Pencils: Rich Buckler. Inks: Vince Colletta. Letters: Todd Klein. Colors: unknown.

Characters on this and following pages TM & © DC Comics.

The Comic Book Reader indicates that the art for the Hawkman origin was by Alex Saviuk and Vince Colletta. However, Alex Saviuk reports to BI, “I never heard of it, let alone contributed to it, to my knowledge. The only mini-comics I did were for the Super Powers toy figures in the 1980s. Looks like it has pencils by Rich Buckler and inks by Vince Colletta.” Considering that Rich Buckler penciled Gerry Conway’s Hawkman scripts in World’s Finest Comics at the time, Saviuk is most likely correct. The origin tale is based on the story by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert from The Brave and the Bold #43 (Aug.–Sept. 1962), focusing on Katar (Hawkman) Hol’s first encounter with the Manhawks. At this time, Thanagar (Hawkman’s home planet) is a peaceful world with no crime. Therefore, they have no defense system in place when the alien Manhawks invade and steal valuable artifacts. Using the wings his father Paran Katar invented to allow for the study of birds, Katar flies close to a Manhawk and snatches its weapon-mask. Paran Katar examines the mask and designs a hawk-mask for his son to wear that will protect him from the Manhawks’ eye beams. Apparently, the Manhawks have coal in their eye slits, which somehow magnifies light from the invaders’ eyes, giving them deadly force. Katar Hol, safe in his hawk-mask, flies into battle using a pressure gun to metamorph the coal into diamond, rendering the masks useless as weapons. The defeated Manhawks are imprisoned and the leaders of Thanagar decide to start a police force that will use wings and masks as a sign of their authority. The last page states that Hawkman and Hawkgirl were sent to Earth to study our police methods and decided to stay as champions against evil.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

Script: Paul Kupperberg. Pencils: Don Heck. Inks: Vince Colletta. Letters: Milt Snapinn. Colors: unknown. Paul Kupperberg confirms authoring this story: “Wish I had something to add, but I barely recall writing this, much less any of the circumstances surrounding it. I guess that as the writer of record of Aquaman at the time, I got that particular assignment.” Based on the story in Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959), the tale is a faithful adaptation, explaining how lonely lighthouse keeper Thomas Curry rescues a woman from stormy seas. They fall in love, are married, and have a son—Arthur. One day, the boy falls from a boat into the ocean. Tom Curry dives in after him, only to find young Arthur sitting on a rock playing with sea creatures. Not long afterwards, Arthur’s mother falls ill. On her deathbed, she explains that she is Atlanna of Atlantis, an undersea kingdom. She was banished for sneaking off to visit the surface world. Arthur has inherited her abilities. After her death, Tom helps his son master these powers. Arthur grows up to become the hero Aquaman, but Tom passes away and is buried at sea. The story ends as it begins, at the lighthouse with Aquaman paying his respects to his parents.

42 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Script: unknown. Pencils: Joe Staton. Inks: Steve Mitchell. Letters: John Costanza. Colors: Anthony Tollin. This mini-comic begins with a retelling of the death of Abin Sur and the passing of the Green Lantern ring to Hal Jordan from Showcase #22 (Oct. 1959). The rest of the issue explains the nature of the Guardians of Oa and the Green Lantern Corps. It ends with a full-page display of Green Lantern charging his ring and reciting his oath.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 43

Script: unknown. Pencils: unknown. Inks: Frank McLaughlin. Letters: Todd Klein. Colors: unknown. The GCD declares that “The Comic Reader #191 (May–June 1981) lists the artists as ‘Buckler?/McLaughlin.’ Rich Buckler has denied that he penciled it in an email to the indexer. The art seems to consist of a bunch of swipes from various sources including Irv Novick, Marshall Rogers, Neal Adams, and others, but the name of the creator of this art is eluding the art experts here at the GCD, and it might have even been a joint effort. Todd Klein confirms on his website that he did the letters for this story. Mike DeCarlo confirms that Frank McLaughlin inked this in an email to the indexer.” This one is unique in that it barely touches on the JLA’s origin, instead giving a quick overview of several key moments in the team’s history. “One day in Metropolis…” three children are tormenting a fourth, Asian-American Kim Luc, telling him that he can’t be a member of their Justice League fan club because he is not an American. Overhearing this exchange, Superman drops in to tell them how the Justice League was formed. He states that an evil alien attacked Earth, and that individually the World’s Greatest Superheroes could not stop it. However, when they teamed up, the alien did not stand a chance. Thus, the seven heroes decided to form a team to fight evil and used a cave as their clubhouse. They fought many villains (with a full-page illustration of five JLA foes) until the Joker broke into their headquarters. Needing a more secure meeting place, they built a satellite in orbit and used transporter tubes to travel between Earth and space. Next is a two-page spread showing all 15 members of the Justice League of America. Superman wraps up his tale by reminding the children that there are three Justice Leaguers that are not Americans and one that is an android. So, if the JLA has members from other countries and other planets, the children should accept Kim Luc. Superman waves goodbye as the children invite Kim Luc to play with them. This issue is troublesome. The art is uneven, especially the scenes with the children. Even worse, the script is incorrect on the origin of the JLA. There were seven aliens, not just one, that brought the founding members together. The focus seems to be more on teaching tolerance of other people’s differences than it is on telling the origin story.

44 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Script: unknown. Pencils: Rich Buckler. Inks: Dick Giordano. Letters: Ben Oda. Colors: unknown. Once again, the GCD has the most reliable information: “In separate emails to the indexer, Rich Buckler has confirmed that he penciled it, Mike DeCarlo has confirmed that Dick Giordano inked it, and Todd Klein has confirmed that Ben Oda did the letters.” An homage to artist Neal Adams’ iconic “Kryptonite Nevermore” cover of Superman #233 (Jan. 1971) leads the reader into the beginnings of the Man of Steel. The story closely resembles the version that first appeared (in black and white) in The Amazing World of Superman, Metropolis Edition (1973) and was later reprinted (in color) in Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-31 (1974). It begins on Krypton with scientist Jor-El warning the Science Council of Krypton’s impending doom. When they refuse to act, Jor-El manages to save his son, launching the infant into space in an experimental rocket just as the planet explodes. The rocket lands on Earth, where the Kents, a kindly couple, find it. They raise the child as their own, teaching him well as the yellow sun of Earth brings out his superpowers. Following his career as Superboy, young Clark Kent leaves his hometown after his adopted parents’ deaths and relocates to Metropolis to work as a reporter for the Daily Planet. Before long, his deeds as Superman earn him his title of the World’s Greatest Hero.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 45

Script: unknown. Pencils: Don Newton. Inks: Frank McLaughlin. Letters: John Costanza. Colors: Adrienne Roy. No surprises here. Socialites Thomas and Martha Wayne are killed by a robber while their young son Bruce watches helplessly. The boy vows vengeance and trains his body and mind for that purpose. When Bruce is an adult, a bat flies through an open window, and he is inspired to become the Batman! Setting up shop in a cave, he develops the tools he will need to fight crime. Bruce befriends Gotham City Commissioner Gordon and takes in orphaned acrobat Dick Grayson after criminals murder the boy’s parents. Thus begins the legend of Batman and Robin.

46 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Script: Bob Rozakis. Pencils and Inks: Don Heck. Letters: Milt Snapinn. Colors: unknown. Rozakis’ script is a faithful rendition of the story from Showcase #4 (Sept.–Oct. 1956). Police scientist Barry Allen reads an old Flash comic book, is struck by lightning and splashed with chemicals, and discovers his new abilities in a restaurant accident. He makes a special costume and battles many rogue criminals, earning the love of the citizens of Central City.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

Script: Bob Rozakis. Pencils: Jose Delbo. Inks: Vince Colletta. Letters: John Costanza. Colors: unknown. It is strange, all the places that Paradise Island is supposed to be located. At various times, it has been in the Pacific Ocean, the Black Sea, and the Aegean Sea. In Wonder Woman #215 (Dec. 1974–Jan. 1975), the island is shown to be mobile and is relocated directly above Atlantis! Bob Rozakis used the Bermuda Triangle for this story, which had been stated on the 1970s Wonder Woman television show. The tale follows the 1942 version of Wonder Woman’s origin (Wonder Woman #1) with only a few alterations. Queen Hippolyte molds a child out of clay and the goddess Aphrodite brings it to life. Named Diana, the child demonstrates abilities greater than those of the mighty Amazons. Years later, a fighter jet crashes into the waters near the isle and Diana rescues the pilot, Captain Steve Trevor. A tournament is held to determine which warrior will return him to Man’s World, and thus be forced to lose her Amazonian birthright. Hippolyte forbids Diana to participate, but she defies her mother and enters in disguise. She wins every contest, forcing the Queen to give her daughter a magic lasso, the armor that will become Wonder Woman’s uniform, and an invisible plane. Diana flies Steve Trevor to America, where she becomes a champion of justice.

48 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

by P a u l

Kupperberg

In 1981, Superman was DC’s flagship character, appearing monthly in the pages of Superman, Action Comics, DC Comics Presents, and World’s Finest Comics for a total of some 74 pages of cover-featured adventures a month. And that didn’t include his regular appearances in Justice League of America and Super Friends, as well as the stories of The New Adventures of Superboy, and a daily syndicated newspaper strip. That was, you would think, enough Superman material for even the most diehard readers and fans. You would be wrong. “(DC’s European licensor) Ehapa was selling tons of Superman comics—more than we could sell in the US/ Canada market, in fact,” explains Paul Levitz, former DC Comics president and publisher. “I recall visiting them in Stuttgart and meeting [former managing director and publisher] Adolph Kabatek. They were burning through material at a prodigious rate, and we agreed to supply them with some extra stories, which they would use in their European album-formatted edition.” Egmont Ehapa Media GmbH, then known as Egmont Ehapa Verlag, was the German publisher of comics and kids’ magazines, a subsidiary of the Scandinavian Egmont media group, which had acquired the massively lucrative European license to publish and produce Disney Comics in 1948. They were also publishers of such popular European franchises as Asterix and Lucky Luke. A 2005 business survey reported that the company, by then having added television and movies to their portfolio along with publishing, employed 3,600 people and had a yearly revenue of 1.2 billion Euros. There had been a few attempts to publish the DC heroes in German comics in the 1950s, but it wasn’t until Ehapa picked up the Superman license in 1966 that these characters finally broke through. The success of the Superman family of characters (Superman, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen) led to the 1973 acquisition of the rest of the DC lineup. By 1981, their Superman comics were established as the company’s bestsellers and included five separate titles: Superman Heft (a biweekly, 32-page comic), Superman Taschenbuch (or, “paperback”), Superman Taschenbuch Extra (both in pocketbook format with more pages), Superman Superband (album-sized, printed on higher-quality paper), and the annual Superman Sonderausgabe (or “special edition,” published in tabloid format). By 1980, Ehapa’s insatiable need for material had them reformatting continuities from the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Starring Superman syndicated newspaper strip for publication in Superman Taschenbuch and Superman Taschenbuch Extra. But the strip had only launched in 1978, leaving a limited number of issues that could be wrung from that short backlog.

Move Over, Doomsday… Writer Paul Kupperberg came up with a spiked-out behemoth years before the Superman-killing monster went on a rampage! Original cover art to Superman Quarterly #18 by Alex Saviuk and Pablo Marcos, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 49

MEANWHILE, 15 YEARS LATER...

After Julius “Julie” Schwartz’s official retirement from regular editing and his assumption of the title of “Editor Emeritus, DC Comics” and serving as its “Goodwill Ambassador” as the company’s representative at comic-book and science-fiction conventions across the country, he was moved from his office on the editorial floor to another, smaller room elsewhere in 1700 Broadway. By the 1990s, he was only coming into the office once a week, usually on Thursdays, to pick up his mail, make phone calls to his friends, and hold court with people like me who made it a point to drop by for a weekly chat and check-in. I would sometimes walk in on him happily emptying the contents of boxes or drawers or cabinet shelves in the trash. Not that everything he was disposing of was in fact trash; about 20% of it was irreplaceable historic artifacts! Among the memorable items I rescued were seven pages of Julie’s editorial records for the Ehapa stories, four 30-page stories for what he dubbed “Superman Monthly” and twenty-one 46-pagers for “Superman Quarterly.”

THE STATISTICS

I turned all of Julie’s rescued treasures over to the company librarian when I left staff at DC in February 2006, but I did make copies of the Ehapa editorial records. Julie assigned these stories to his regular stable of creators of which, by then, I was a member. I recall writing several of the 46-pagers—only two, co-written with Bob Rozakis, were ever published here in the States—but lacking copies of all but a few of the foreign albums, I was surprised to discover I had worked on a total of nine of them, for a total of 414 pages; Bob Rozakis was right behind me with three co-written Monthlies and five Quarterlies, three of them co-written with either me or E. Nelson Bridwell, who himself co-wrote his three Monthly stories and one of his two Quarterly appearances. Cary Bates is credited with five of the 21 Quarterlies. On the art side, Alex Saviuk proved the most prolific, contributing 568 pages of pencils on the Quarterlies, and another 60 on the Monthly. Irv Novick was a distant second with 138 pages, with Pablo Marcos, Vince Colletta, and Joe Giella providing the lion’s share of the inking.

SUPERMAN MONTHLY

Editor of Steel Julius Schwartz, editor of the Superman titles, as cartooned by artist Alex Saviuk on June 19, 1980 on a handmade birthday card for Julie. Courtesy of Heritage. Superman TM & © DC Comics.

The first Ehapa story out of the gate was Superman Monthly #1 (Job #S-3995). Begun in March or April of 1981, it featured the story “Partners in Peril,” plotted by longtime Schwartz assistant editor and Superman expert E. Nelson Bridwell and dialogued by Bob Rozakis. The “partners” were Superman and guest-star Batman; the “peril” was the Superman Revenge Squad. Published in Superman/Batman Heft #25 in 1982, the story was illustrated by Alex Saviuk and Frank Chiaramonte (with a cover by Saviuk and Frank Giacoia) and colored by Jerry Serpe. It follows a plot to endow Batman with superpowers and make him super-jealous of Superman, forcing—the Squad believes—a showdown between friends that will lead either to Superman’s death or his emotional collapse should he have to kill the Caped Crusader. Bridwell/Rozakis/Saviuk/McLaughlin/ Serpe returned with Superman Monthly #2 (Job #S-4025), “Invade Earth—or Die!” A race of alien robots calculates a scenario in which a rare but hitherto undiscovered element beneath Earth’s polar icecap might be weaponized and used to destroy the planet, resulting in a band of radiation that could then drift through space to reach their home planet which, because it lacks a protective atmosphere, would also be destroyed. To prevent this, the robots plan a bloodless coup, followed by a benevolent dictatorship, but only after sending an army of Gold Kryptonite-packing robots after Superman, who is forced to take shelter in his Fortress of Solitude and fight the robotic enemy with robots by remote control. With a cover again by Saviuk and Giacoia, the story was published in 1983’s Superman/Batman Heft #1. Batman returns (as he’s wont to do) in Superman Monthly #3’s “Villain! Villain! Who’s Got the Villain?” (Job #S-4032), bringing with him writers Elliot S! Maggin and artists Alex Toth and Terry Austin, with lettering by Gaspar Saladino, and coloring by Tom Ziuko. Using Red Kryptonite to change Superman into a Lex Luthor lookalike, the evil criminal genius poses as his own twin brother, Erasmus, who showers humanity with miracle cures and inventions. But before he can make his move to take over the world, he’s busted by Superman and Batman, who had switched identities to fool the villain. With a cover by Gil Kane, the story first appeared in Superman/Batman Heft #4 (1983) in Germany and as 1983’s Superman Annual #9 in the US.

50 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Not Today, Neutron! The Metropolis Marvel withstands Neutron’s attack on the cover of Superman Quarterly #11. Original art by Alex Saviuk and Dick Giordano. Courtesy of Heriage. TM & © DC Comics.

alex saviuk Michael Eury.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 51

Punchy, Ain’t He? (left) Eduardo Barreto’s original cover art to Superman Quarterly #12. Courtesy of John Wells. (right) A later re-publication of the image. TM & © DC Comics.

Superman Monthly #4 (Job #S-4124) welcomed back the writing team of Bridwell and Rozakis, now joined by artists George Tuska and Sal Trapani, letterer Ben Oda, and colorist Gene D’Angelo. “The Day the Earth Exploded” (originally titled “The Puzzling Peril of Pangaea,” according to Schwartz’s editorial records) brought another alien menace to Earth, this one known only as the Exploder, for his propensity for setting off silent explosions in his hunt for ancient alien artifacts. And that’s not all! The planet is experiencing massive earthquakes strong enough to cause a shift in the positions of Australia and Asia. The good news: Superman finds the Exploder, who also proves to be behind the Earth’s accelerated continental drift. The bad news: he’s one of a race of bored immortal aliens who while away forever by pursuing cosmic puzzles that take thousands of years to solve, and clues to their latest lie buried beneath the Earth since the time when the continents were scrunched together in a single landmass called Pangaea. Originally published in Superman/Batman Heft #9 (1983), the story was reprinted in a truncated form in the US in Action Comics #550 (Dec. 1983), with five pages excised to fit the American page count.

SUDDENLY...

Superman Monthly lasted only four issues. Ehapa decided it could better showcase these exclusive stories by publishing them in a larger 46-page, 8.4-inch by 11.6inch, square-bound album format. Here at home, another format was tried for the American publication of “The Startling Saga of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue,” the story featured in Superman Quarterly #1 (Job #S-5054). Published in 1982 as Superman Spectacular #1, it appeared in the same album format used in Germany (where it was called Superman Album #1) and England. Priced at $1.95, this one-shot volume was one of DC’s early attempts at publishing exclusive editions for the new and expanding direct market, but the experiment was apparently not successful and there were no follow-up editions in the format. Work began on the “The Startling Saga of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue” in the second quarter of 1989 and was an homage to a favorite “imaginary story” that appeared in Superman #162 (July 1963), in which an accident splits the Man of Steel into two distinct super-beings who proceed to solve all the world’s problems in tandem. The story was conceived in conference with editor Schwartz, plotter Bob Rozakis, and scripter me. I recall the initial idea being my suggestion, but considering the similarities in our ages and reading histories, it was something either Bob or I could come up with. The 1982 story involved Lex Luthor, Terra-Man, Red Kryptonite, and a race against time. It was penciled by Adrian Gonzales and inked by Colletta, lettered by John Costanza, and colored by Serpe; the American edition featured a vivid cover penciled by Gonzales and painted by Joe Orlando. Superman Quarterly #2 (Job #S-5060) introduced to the world “The Conqueror from the Past,” a self-proclaimed reincarnation of Alexander the Great (actually crazed science whiz Alex Mason) who kidnaps President Ronald Reagan and other

52 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

world leaders from an Egyptian peace conference in his first step towards world domination. Rozakis and I reunited to share the plotting and dialogue, Superman legend Curt Swan was the penciler, and it was inked by Colletta and lettered by Oda. Published over there as 1982’s Superman Album #2 (with a lovely, airbrushed cover by Swan), it appeared here split between Superman #387 and Action Comics #457 (both Sept. 1983, and both with Gil Kane covers), including the addition of a new Part Two splash page and eight new panels. In “Superman Meets the Zod Squad” in Superman Quarterly #3 (Job #S-5066) by Cary Bates, Saviuk, Colletta, Milt Snappin, and Anthony Tollin, General Zod and a trio of fellow prisoners escape from the Phantom Zone with the help of Jewel Kryptonite to amplify their mental powers, only to join forces with the Metropolis Marvel to fight off the alien Vrang, an ancient enemy of the Kryptonian people on its way to conquer Earth. Published in Germany as Superman Album #1 (1982) and Superman Spectacular 1982 #2 (1982) in the UK, it appeared in the US in Action Comics #548– 549 (Oct.–Nov. 1983). The original Howard Chaykin cover for this story was rejected by Ehapa because it depicted Jor-El and Lara, who don’t appear in the story, but was later used as the cover for Superman #400 (Oct. 1984). A new splash page and three-page replacement sequence were created for the DC issues, all inked by Pablo Marcos. Gil Kane took a solo outing on Superman Quarterly #4 (Job #S-4006) in “Behold! The Ultimate Man!” One of the advantages of the 46-page format was that it gave creators plenty of space to not only tell bigger stories, but do it in a bigger way with more open pages and splashes. Kane certainly took advantage of the real estate to tell his story of a scientist who focuses cosmic rays on himself in an attempt to be the first of a series of benevolent beings inspired by Superman’s noble and heroic example. Aided by letterer Snappin and colorist Ziuko, the story, minus three pages, appeared in the States as Superman Special #1 (1983). Kane was back in Superman Quarterly #5 (Job #S-4047), this time on art only, for a script by Bates, and lettering by Oda, color by Zuiko, on “The Demon with a Cape.” Brainiac escapes imprisonment and finds his way to a world where the natives

worship Drod, a supercomputer that the android bad guy is able to access. Disguising himself beneath a cloak, Brainiac convinces the Drod worshippers that Superman is Satan and then lures Superman to this world, strips him of his powers, and sentences him to death. This was 1985’s Superman Album #5 in Germany and 1984’s Superman Special #2, which, like the previous volume, had to lose three pages to fit the US comics format. My first solo script was for Superman Quarterly #6 (Job #S-4094), “The Man Who Hated the Human Race,” penciled by Saviuk, inked by Frank McLaughlin, and colored by Gafford. A man hideously deformed since birth turns his bitterness towards humanity into a series of brilliant inventions, including a “time scope” with which he evolves a race of intelligent, humanoid dinosaur-men that will be the basis for his plans to supplant the human race, like Jurassic Park gone horribly worse. The dinosaur-men made their one and only appearance in Germany’s Superman Album #7 (1983). Bob Rozakis contributed to Superman Quarterly #7 (Job #S-4141) with “My Master—the Parasite,” with Saviuk, Marcos, and Serpe, in which the Parasite steals Superman’s superpowers and only allows the Man of Steel to access them in short bursts to handle a succession of global emergencies. An unintentional side trip to 1910 results in Superman bringing a strange space dust back to 1983 that puts Earth’s population into suspended animation, making it all the more imperative he break Parasite’s hold on him and get back to 1910 to rectify his error. It appeared in Superman Album #7 (1982). Superman Quarterly #8 (Job #S-4160) opens at a surprise birthday party for Clark, where the surprise turns out to be Lois, Lana, Jimmy, and Perry turning into alien super-beings. The transformed quartet blames Superman for having brought a virus back with him from his last jaunt into outer space and go on a destructive rampage. “My Friends—My Enemy” was written by Rozakis, with art by Alex Saviuk and Joe Giella, and lettering and coloring by Snappin and Serpe. “The Deadly Sting of the H.I.V.E.” in Superman Quarterly #9 (Job #S-4232) was soothed by the art of Irv Novick and Tony DeZuniga (lettering by Snappin, coloring by D’Angelo) from my script and the cover by Joe Kubert [which was repurposed as the cover of this edition of BACK ISSUE, recolored by our own Glenn Whitmore—ed.].

Julie Logs In Courtesy of Paul Kupperberg, a scan of one of editor Julie Schwartz’s Ehapa Superman Quarterly production logs. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

German Import Ehapa material occasionally found its way into print in the United States, such this 1982 Superman Spectacular. Cover illustration by Adrian Gonzales, painted by Joe Orlando. TM & © DC Comics.

The Parasite and the criminal organization H.I.V.E. (Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination) join forces to get their hands on a powerful new energy source that would not only multiply H.I.V.E.’s capacity for extermination, but power Parasite’s body in place of kryptonite as well. Clark Kent took center stage in Superman Quarterly #10’s (Job #S-4271) “The Life of a Rock.” But it’s not just any rock—it’s a rock that can change into Adam-II, a hulking being that provides for a group in Smallville who watch over it. Back for his hometown’s bicentennial, the rock erases Clark’s memories of his alter ego, which comes at a bad time, just as a gang of criminals are on their way to Smallville to find out what happened to the money their courier was supposed to deliver to them. (Spoiler: The rock did it!) Appearing in Superman Sonderausgabe (Special Edition) #10, the story was by Rozakis, Saviuk, Dennis Jansen, Snappin, and Serpe. E. Nelson Bridwell next contributed “The One-Man Balance of Power” to Superman Quarterly #11 (Job #S-4356), with art by Saviuk and Marcos, and Snappin and Serpe. When the world’s nuclear payloads are mysteriously rendered inert, the villainous Neutron offers his own nuclear powers to the highest bidder. During a battle that takes them into outer space, Superman spots an incoming alien invasion fleet— no doubt responsible for Earth’s denuclearization—

headed their way and forms an unlikely alliance with Neutron to save the planet. It appeared in Germany in Superman Album #10 (1984). “Have we had a German in any of these yet? Make the reporter German,” Julie Schwartz instructed me after we had finished plotting the story for Superman Quarterly #12 (Job #S-4370). The reporter was Gunther Frank, a part of the issue’s B-plot with Jimmy Olsen. For the A-story, the alien Sun-Stealer is stealing Earth’s sun, which he’s sold to another planet that needs to replace its own. “The Sun-Stealer of Space” featured art by Novick and Giella and was colored by Serpe and appeared in Superman Album #11 (1984). In Superman Quarterly #13 (Job #S-4413), Amazo’s android body disappears after Superman brings it to his Fortress of Solitude for safekeeping, snatched by its hideously deformed creator, Professor Ivo. When Amazo is unable to absorb enough of Superman’s life force to restore Ivo to normal, he turns instead to the residents of the Bottle City of Kandor, with unexpected results. Appearing first in Germany in Superman Album #12 (1984), it was reprinted in the US (minus one page) in Superman Special #3 (1985). “Amazo Means Mayhem” was plotted by Bridwell and scripted by Len Wein, with art by Novick/Marcos/Snappin/D’Angelo. I was back for another round with “The Greatest,” about a genetically altered fighter calling himself Fist who first challenges the reigning world heavyweight champion and then the Man of Steel himself. Superman Quarterly #14 (Job #S-4469), with art by Saviuk and Giella and color by Serpe, appeared in Superman Sonderausgabe #10 (1985). Bates/Saviuk/Marcos/Snappin/Serpe were on board for “Luthor’s Ultra-Ego” (Job #S-4534) in Superman Quarterly #15, which appeared in Germany as Superman Superband #29 (1984) and in the US, with six pages edited out and a cover by Brian Bolland, as Superman Annual #12 (1986). An energy being that comes to Earth gunning for Luthor proves to be the “exo-spine” of the villain’s reengineered warsuit from the planet Lexor and is set on converting a NASA space station into a death-ray to destroy Earth. Who is “The Luckiest Man in the World”? Apparently, his name is Maxwell Winslow Gamble, possessor of the uncanny ability to predict the outcome of any wager he makes, no matter how outrageous or dangerous. Becoming the costumed Gambler, Max plans to capitalize on his powers of luck but falls afoul of Superman and finds that all bets are off. Written by me, art by Saviuk and Marcos, coloring by Serpe, Superman Quarterly #16 (Job #S-4583) appeared in Superman Taschenbuch #78 (1985). Neither my first time at the rodeo or in the use of Terra-Man, the Old West-inspired villain was back, this time riding with historic outlaws from the past in “TerraMan’s Terrible Trio” in Superman Quarterly #17 (Job #S-4634). Meanwhile, Jimmy goes undercover to investigate an arson fire at the Metropolis Wax Museum, a case that has an unlikely (no, really!) connection to the Man of Steel’s Terra-Man troubles. I was joined on this one by Saviuk and Dave Hunt and colorist Serpe, which appeared in Superman Taschenbuch #79 (1985). “In some respects, (‘Cosmic Nemesis Number One’) anticipates 1992’s ‘Doomsday Saga,’” John Wells wrote in his 2011 fanzine article of the story in Superman Quarterly #18 (Job #S-4663). The surface details are similar: a spikey, hulking alien, whose sole reason for existence is combat, crashes to Earth, takes on first the military, then the Man of Steel in a protracted cross-country battle; but the stories go off in very different directions. The story, by me, Saviuk and Marcos,

54 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Batman Takes Wing Courtesy of Heritage, an Alex Saviuk/Frank Chiaramonte original art page published in 1982’s Superman/Batman Heft #25. Plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell, dialogued by Bob Rozakis. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 55

Super Artists Ehapa covers by Curt Swan and Gil Kane. US readers may recall the Kane cover being used in the States for DC’s Superman Special #2 (1984). TM & © DC Comics.

and Serpe appeared in Superman Superband #30 (1987); ten pages, mostly of the protracted cross-country battle, were cut and have never seen print in any language. Superman Quarterly #19 (Job #S-4690) took an introspective Superman to “The Wall to Infinity,” where a brooding Man of Steel reflects on the true extent of his powers. Raised to always hold back lest he cause harm or damage, Superman ponders what it would be like to be able to act without inhibition, a wish that an eavesdropping Brainiac makes come true with a recreation of Krypton’s “Wanting Wall,” a mythical construct that makes wishes come true, but which also makes them come with instant regrets. Co-plotted and penciled by Keith Giffen, scripted by Robert Loren Fleming, inked by Tanghal, and lettered by Serpe, it ran in Superman Taschenbuch #72 (1985). As expected, things got wacky in “The Bride of Bizarro” in Superman Quarterly #20 (Job #S-4733), involving an alien seductress, reverse Bizarro logic, and a plan to create a deadly love triangle to achieve the revenge death of Bizarro. This big misunderstanding by Bates/Saviuk/McLaughlin/ Serpe saw print in Superman Taschenbuch #78 (1986), a story which a footnote advises takes place after Supergirl’s “untimely death” (i.e., Crisis on Infinite Earths #7). Bates, Saviuk, Hunt, Snappin, and Serpe were the creative team that brought down the curtain on Superman Quarterly with #21 (Job #S-4775), “The Parasite Curse,” in which the Parasite is revealed to be the father of two children, both of whom suffer from a mysterious, energy-depleting “para-fever.” But when the bad guy’s plan to cure them by transferring Superman’s powers to the kids goes awry, Parasite is forced to ally himself with the Man of Steel.

In June of 1987, Superman Superband #30 (1987) was among the very last of the Schwartz-edited US material to appear in an Ehapa title. What German readers saw next was Superman Handbuch (or compendium), collecting John Byrne’s six-issue Man of Steel miniseries. Of the 1,086 pages of new material created for the 21 monthly and quarterly issues, only 366, or nine stories, ever saw print in this country, leaving 720 pages still unseen. Maybe one day a shortage of “new” Superman material here in the States will get DC to turn to their archives and reprint these tales of classic Superman as “all-new” material for its American readers. PAUL KUPPERBERG, writer of more than a thousand comicbook stories featuring characters ranging from Archie Andrews (who he killed in 2014) to Zatanna (who he didn’t), including the pre-Crisis Superman, (including the syndicated newspaper strip, and Superboy and Supergirl), the Doom Patrol, Vigilante, and Green Lantern, as well as his creations Arion, Lord of Atlantis; Checkmate; and Takion. He is also a contributor to numerous anthologies and the author of dozens of books (do MadLibs count as books?) for readers of all ages, including the novels JSA: Ragnarok, The Same Old Story, and Emma’s Landing (from Crazy8Press.com), Paul Kupperberg’s Illustrated Guide to Writing Comics (Charlton Neo Press), Direct Comments: Comic Book Creators in their Own Words (Buffalo Avenue Books), and I Never Write for the Money... But I Always Turn in the Manuscript for a Check (Bold Bard Publishing), all available on Amazon. You can follow Paul on Facebook and Twitter and at PaulKupperberg.com.

56 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

by E

ddy Zeno

Super Scarce Superman #nn (1988), better known by its story title This Island Bradman!, was commissioned from DC Comics by a wealthy father for his son’s birthday—with a print run rumored to be only 200 copies. Cover art by Curt Swan and Angelo Torres, story by David Levin. Superman TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 57

Meet the Islanders (left) Financier Godfrey Bradman, recipient of an honorary university degree on July 12, 1990, two years after funding the This Island Bradman! Superman custom comic. (center top) Circa 1986, a publicity photo with longtime Superman artist Curt Swan (R) passing the pencil to the Man of Steel’s new creative dynamo, John Byrne (L). (center bottom) Writer David Levin. (right) Legendary MAD cartoonist Angelo Torres, 2016 recipient of the Milton Caniff Award. Bradman photo © University of Salford photographic collection. Byrne and Swan photo © DC Comics. Levin photo © IMDb.com. Torres photo © National Cartoonists Society.

“Every Boy’s Dream” is a caption in Paul Levitz’s book, 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking (Taschen, 2010). Used to describe a once-thoughtof-as-mythical-publication, This Island Bradman! was a comic book purchased by a father for his son’s bar mitzvah. Far from being bought off the rack, however, it was a private commission featuring the young man, his best friend, and the rest of the family in lesser cameos. The Man of Steel was there as well. By the time Godfrey Bradman arranged for his son Daniel’s adventure, the Englishman had risen from humble beginnings to turn what was once a tea company into a property development behemoth. Striving to regenerate areas of urban blight, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the keynote speaker (on July 31, 1985) at one of his London sites. Godfrey went on to experience huge gains and losses in real estate, but proved to be a survivor. Daniel followed in his father’s footsteps. Regarding the print run for Bradman, writer Mark Waid said, “This is probably the rarest Superman comic in my lifetime.” News of the book’s scarcity spread, followed by rumors that copies were selling for small fortunes. Although it was published in 1988, no readily available images were posted to the burgeoning world wide web of the ’90s. Today, the entire tale can be readily viewed online; it no longer seems so mysterious. Oh, one may wonder why artist Curt Swan’s pencils were inked by Angelo Torres for the first and only time, or why certain characters’ faces lacked that distinctive Swan look, but there is little nowadays to sustain the notion that This Island Bradman! remains an enigma. Or is there? Choosing the main artist seemed straightforward. Having lost his normal monthly page count as the regular Superman artist, in 1988 Swan returned to penciling two-page installments featuring the Man of Tomorrow in Action Comics Weekly along with a 47-page graphic novel, Superman: The Earth Stealers. It seems logical that he would be available to slip in another assignment like the Bradman fable, a mere eight pages in length. Further, Curt may have been picked to bring a classical look to the story. Perhaps the father who ordered the comic remembered Swan’s work from his own childhood.

Angelo Torres, though a less clear choice as inker, was an old friend of executive editor Joe Orlando’s from their days together at EC (Entertaining Comics). Known as an outstanding caricaturist at MAD magazine, Torres had earlier collaborated with Orlando on a 1984 DC giveaway comic to promote the wearing of seat belts. Sponsored by Honda in cooperation with the US Department of Transportation, Supergirl starred in that one, for which Angelo provided both pencils and inks. Orlando assigned the regular story editing on Bradman to Joey Cavalieri, by then an experienced DC writer who had previously scripted special-project comics for Joe. Cavalieri went on to become a group editor at Marvel before returning to DC and eventually being promoted to senior editor. It is not the established talents just mentioned, but the man who authored This Island Bradman! that presents a conundrum. David Levin has exactly two comic-book stories to his credit. A writing obscurity on a four-color scarcity might seem appropriate, but who is this Levin fellow and why was he chosen? BACK ISSUE contacted him by phone in January 2021 to learn the answers. (Quotes stem mostly from that interview, with a few cited from David’s earlier blog.) “I worked for DC for literally five minutes. A friend of mine at MAD told me there was an opening at DC. Between the time I was hired and when I showed up for work two weeks later, they asked: ‘What are you doing here?’ The project I was hired to do got cancelled and nobody called me. But they were nice and said, ‘You can stick around for a couple of weeks; we just can’t keep you.’ They did give me a lot of freelance work. “Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse are real. Superman is real, in all his incarnations. We’ve all heard dialogue coming out of his mouth. I felt this huge responsibility. It freaked me out, intimidated me a little bit, to be writing dialogue for Superman. I decided I was writing the Silver Age figure and not the John Byrne Superman. Don’t get me wrong, I loved John Byrne’s version, but he needed to be the [hero] we’d all heard for decades. “Joe Orlando was in charge of DC Comics special projects. When I told him I wanted to write something, he sort of walked me through. It was to be an eight-

58 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

page story featuring Daniel Bradman and his friend Andrew Hunt and the entire family and all their pets and their estate— and somehow the kids save the day. I think it was Joe who came up with the idea of the intergalactic zoo.” The Bradmans were specimens on display. On the cover, Swan pictured those watching the captives as crazyquilt aliens with puzzle-piece bodies. Inside, however, they looked quite different. Multi-colored skin pigment morphed to gray or light purple and the creatures somehow developed pipette noses. Despite such inconsistencies, Levin loved the whole art job (including dinosaur zoo guards, who were childhood-cool), with one exception: “Having Curt Swan drawing my very first comic-book story? Oh my God! I hit the pinnacle right off. You can’t get better than Curt Swan. But there’s a funny story about the way Curt penciled the giant robot on page 1. When I was a kid drawing my first comic-book story, I came up with what I thought was this great villain called a ‘captroid.’ The hero of my comic got put into the captroid’s body, which was a prison cell. I had imagined Jack Kirby doing this amazing job drawing it… something that, perhaps, Galactus might sic on the Fantastic Four. I wasn’t really thrilled with the way Curt Swan did it. [laughs] “I watched Joe Orlando sketch the large panel with the domes and all the aliens watching so Curt would understand what to do; Joe laid it out on a yellow notepad. Seeing the captives under different domes made me think of the title. Joey Cavalieri was the editor. I remember going to Joey and saying, ‘I want to title it, This Island Bradman. It’s a callback to a classic film, This Island Earth (1955).’ He said, ‘Okay, what do I care?’ [laughs] “Angelo Torres deserves a lot of credit, too. He was the inker over Curt’s pencils. From photos of the family, it was Angelo’s job to draw their likenesses.

We’re Just a Typical Earth Family… …with our own zoo, a lush estate, and our limited edition Superman comic! (top right) Page 2 from the story. (left) Writer Levin borrowed its title from this classic sci-fi flick. (bottom right) The Bradmans at home. Superman TM & © DC Comics. This Island Earth © Universal.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 59

The Bradmans Dig Superman Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), original art for pages 4 and 6 of This Island Bradman!, featuring a burrowing Man of Tomorrow! Superman TM & © DC Comics.

“The whole thing was a little silly to me, so I put in little jokes to myself throughout the story. The one line that really stands out was, ‘According to the aliens, we’re an example of a typical Earth family!’ My tongue was firmly in my cheek when I wrote that.” From David’s blog: “Yep. They’re aliens all right. If they consider a Jewish British multi-billionaire real estate magnate living on an estate with horses, rabbits, and chickens, who gives out custom Superman comics starring his son and his son’s best friend to be ‘typical,’ they MUST be aliens. I’m just saying, is all. “In your 20s, the world is wide open to you. For the two weeks I was at DC, I had a great time.” Besides This Island Bradman!, David scripted one other comics story: “New writers were assigned the ‘Bonus Books.’ I did a Bonus Book with Dean Haspiel about Maxwell Lord.” The Maxwell Lord 14-page free insert appeared in Justice League International #24 (Feb. 1989). Levin was given another interesting task during his brief time as a freelancer. He wrote two Superman children’s books for a small British publisher. When asked why he left the job at DC, David replied: “I was starstruck and struck shy. People like Julius Schwartz, Neal Adams, Joe Kubert, Mike Carlin, and John Byrne were walking down the hall. Robert Kanigher was still there. Everybody was very nice, but I couldn’t function. I just couldn’t open my mouth. “Plus, it wasn’t my career goal. I studied to be in TV and film. There’s something about not letting your passion become your workaday living. Don’t get me wrong, I’m passionate about my work, but I’ve been a comic-book fan my whole life. Comics are my hobby. I didn’t want to give up my hobby.”

HOW RARE?

Real-estate tycoon Godfrey Bradman allegedly offered DC Comics £10,000 (around $18,000 at the time) for Daniel’s gift. What did that pay for? Besides adding a John Byrne Superman reprint to give the issue some heft, David noted: “Paul Levitz wrote in his book that 200 comic books were printed, but Paul doesn’t know the exact number, I don’t know the exact number.” Unofficial estimates are that 100 copies were distributed to the family as bar mitzvah gifts. The rest were given to DC staffers. (Perhaps they were meant to supplement the company’s retirement plan.) Seriously and far more important in terms of rarity are the number of books that survive today after a bunch of 13-year-olds were handed the bulk of the Bradmans back in ’88. In a well-publicized sale, an installment of This Island Bradman! sold for $5,000 to a French collector. Levin recalls that at its zenith another copy brought $8,000. Before realizing the book’s potential value, the storyteller regretted keeping what he thought was a single issue while giving away all his extras. Fortunately, years later, a second Bradman was uncovered in his storage unit while moving; he sold the lucky find. David considers the comic still in his possession the most rare of all: “I signed only one copy. Do you know who has it? I do. I’m waiting for my daughter to go to college with that one. “I grew up a Curt Swan kid, for sure. When Curt sort of semi-retired, this was one of the last Superman comic books that he drew. My bucket list was very satisfied, even if [back then] I didn’t know what that meant. Also, when I had my 60th birthday, my wife had a cake made for me with the cover of that issue. This Island Bradman! is considered a legend; it’s my little footnote to DC Comics history.” DAVID P. LEVIN is an Emmy-nominated television writer, producer, director, and editor. Since 1996, Levin’s boutique video production company, Brainstorm, Inc., has helped create successful programs for CBS, AMC, Bio, Discovery, History Channel, MTV, USA, VH1, Lifetime, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Animal Planet, The Disney Channel, and TV Land. He produced and directed When Pop Culture Saved America: A 9/11 Story, named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the ten best specials released on the infamous date’s tenth anniversary. Recently, with a need borne from the COVID-19 pandemic, David brought writers and actors together for a series of 11 “Viral Vignettes” performed on Zoom. All revenue generated from the one-act plays was donated to the Actors Fund. 60 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

AMERICAN TV COMIC BOOKS

REED CRANDALL

A spirited biography of EC Comics mainstay (with HARVEY KURTZMAN on Mad and Two-Fisted Tales) and co-creator of Western strip American Eagle. Covers his 40+ year association with Cracked magazine, his pivotal Marvel Comics work inking HERB TRIMPE on The Hulk & teaming with sister MARIE SEVERIN on King Kull, and more! By GREG BIGA and JON B. COOKE.

Examines US War comics: EC COMICS (Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat), DC COMICS (Enemy Ace, All American Men of War, G.I. Combat, Our Fighting Forces, Our Army at War, Star-Spangled War Stories), WARREN PUBLISHING (Blazing Combat), CHARLTON (Willy Schultz and the Iron Corporal) and more! Featuring KURTZMAN, SEVERIN, DAVIS, WOOD, KUBERT, GLANZMAN, KIRBY, and others! By RICHARD ARNDT and STEVEN FEARS, with an introduction by ROY THOMAS.

PETER BOSCH’s history of over 300 TV shows and 2000+ comic book adaptations across five decades, from well-known series (STAR TREK, THE MUNSTERS) to lesser-known shows (CAPTAIN GALLANT, PINKY LEE). With profiles of artists who drew TV comics: GENE COLAN, ALEX TOTH, DAN SPIEGLE, RUSS MANNING, JOHN BUSCEMA, RUSS HEATH, and more!

ROGER HILL’s history of Crandall’s life and career, from Golden Age Quality Comics, to Warren war and horror, Flash Gordon, and beyond. With never-seen photos and unpublished artwork! SECOND PRINTING—NOW IN SOFTCOVER!

ROGER HILL documents the life and career of the artist of BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR., with never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of Raboy!

(256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $39.95 (256-page Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-102-8

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-106-6

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-108-0

(192-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-107-3

TWO-FISTED COMIC BOOK ARTIST

OUR ARTISTS AT WAR

(1940s-1980s)

ILLUSTRATOR OF THE COMICS

MAC RABOY

MASTER OF THE COMICS

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: The 1970s (new printing) JASON SACKS & KEITH DALLAS detail the emerging Bronze Age of comics: Relevance with DENNY O’NEIL and NEAL ADAMS’ Green Lantern, JACK KIRBY’s Fourth World saga, Comics Code revisions that open the floodgates for monsters and the supernatural, JENETTE KAHN’s arrival at DC and the subsequent DC Implosion, the coming of JIM SHOOTER and the Direct Market, and more!

OR -COL FULLDCOVER HAR RIES SE nting me f docu ecade o d y! each s histor ic m o c

(288-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $48.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-056-4 1970s VOLUME BACK IN PRINT SPRING 2022!

Other volumes: 1940-44 • 1950s 1960-64 • 1965-69 • 1980s • 1990s and 1945-49 (new volume, shipping Spring 2023)

CBA BULLPEN

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID (2nd Edition)

Collects all seven issues of JON B. COOKE’s little-seen fanzine, published just after the WITH 16 EXTRA PAGES OF “STUF’ SAID”! original COMIC BOOK ARTIST ended its Examines the complicated relationship of TwoMorrows run in 2003. Interviews with Marvel Universe creators JACK KIRBY and GEORGE TUSKA, FRED HEMBECK, TERRY STAN LEE through their own words (and BEATTY, and FRANK BOLLE, an all-star Ditko’s, Wood’s, Romita Sr.’s and others), tribute to JACK ABEL, a new feature on in chronological order, from fanzine, JACK KIRBY’s unknown 1960 baseball card magazine, radio, and TV interviews! By art, and a 16-page full-color section! TwoMorrows publisher JOHN MORROW. (176-page SOFTCOVER with COLOR) (176-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $26.95 $24.95 • (Digital Edition) $8.99 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-105-9 ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

The final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time, in cooperation with DC Comics! Two unused 1970s DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales, plus TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE, and SOUL LOVE (the unseen black romance magazine)! With historical essays by JOHN MORROW. (176-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

MIKE GRELL

HERO-A-GO-GO!

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER

Career-spanning tribute to the DC Comics mainstay, and Warlord & Jon Sable creator, by DEWEY CASSELL with JEFF MESSER.

MICHAEL EURY looks at comics of the 1960s Camp Age, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV’s Batman shook a mean cape! With FRADON, SINNOTT, DELBO & more!

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-088-5

(272-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1

OLD GODS & NEW:

THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

A FOURTH WORLD COMPANION

Looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own words, as well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER, and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to show how Kirby’s epic came about, where it was going, and how he would’ve ended it before it was cancelled by DC Comics! By JOHN MORROW with JON B. COOKE. (160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4

25th anniversary retrospective by publisher JOHN MORROW and COMIC BOOK CREATOR magazine’s JON B. COOKE! Go behind-the-scenes with MICHAEL EURY, ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY, and a host of other TwoMorrows contributors who’ve been the future of comics, LEGO , and pop culture history since 1994! ®

(256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $37.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-092-2

TwoMorrows Publishing • www.twomorrows.com • 919-449-0344 Download our Free Catalog: https://www.twomorrows.com/media/TwoMorrowsCatalog.pdf

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

JOHN SEVERIN

62 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

by R

Once there was a time when success or failure of a comicbook series was determined by a character’s popularity, the subject matter of a particular issue or story arc, and/or the creative team who worked on the title. These aspects are what made comics good for those of us who collected them throughout the Bronze Age. Sure, there were always gimmicks involved in launching new titles or reinvigorating old characters to interest new readers. Two examples include 1977’s Marvel Super Special #1 (featuring a magazinesized KISS comic book with special features, a silverstamped logo, and, reportedly, real blood from each member poured into the red ink!) and 1961’s The Flash #123 and its monumental story “Flash of Two Worlds,” teaming Silver Age speedster Barry Allen with his Golden Age predecessor, Jay Garrick, and opening parallel doors to what would ultimately become DC’s Multiverse! But today’s comics buyers who prefer traditional printed-paper over digital formats seem fueled by an entirely different mechanism creating a real-life, alternate universe for brick-and-mortar and mail-order retailers— the variant cover! Now it is common for first issues, milestone stories, and anniversary events to be marketed with myriad diverse images: disparate renderings by a multitude of artists enhanced by color-scheme changes on some and no color at all on others; enhancements with specialty inks, foil-stamping, and holograms; or the now-popular “blank sketch” cardstock cover for those who want original art drawn on their books by a vast array of illustrators. The comicbook industry is reliant on reselling the same interior content with various outer packaging—over and over again—just to keep afloat! As a lifelong comics reader and former retailer, distributor, and publisher from the late-1980s through the 2010s, I have witnessed the variant-cover phenomena from its origin to the mammoth marketing machine it is today. Let’s FlashBack to an era where, for the purposes of this article, variant covers refer to first printings of comic books published simultaneously but with different art, pricing, or special enhancements on one or more versions. Reprints and foreign comics do not apply; those are for future articles!

o b e r t V. C o n t e

PRICE AND DISTRIBUTOR VARIANTS

Although slight cover differences date back to comics’ Golden Age including 1940’s Batman #1 (“No 1” versus “No. 1,” anyone?) and mislayered color separations leading to Andy Warhol-like covers such as Fantastic Four #110 depicting the Thing in Hulk-like green instead of his true orange hue (a similar thing happened to Oscar the Grouch during Season One of television’s Sesame Street!), the earliest “price variants” of the Bronze Age appeared as early as mid-1976. Back then, most standard comic books were sold on newsstands for 25 cents. Marvel Comics Group, whose number-crunchers focused on increasing company profits, targeted several test markets throughout the country and raised prices of about 60 titles to 30 cents each. Among the most rare are Kid Colt Outlaw #208 and The Eternals #1. (The latter is sure to further escalate in value, as should its common 25-cent counterpart, from the success of the November 2021 Eternals film, recently released as of this writing.)

TM & © Marvel.

Special Negative Zone Edition? (below) Fantastic Four #110 (May 1971), with its regular and printer’s error covers. Cover art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott. TM & © Marvel.

A Whitman Sampler (opposite page) A selection of some of the roughly 160 DC Comics/Whitman covers published without issue numbers. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63

Marvel Comics and DC Comics sold multipacks of comic books (including Marvel’s licensed comics like Micronauts and Conan) to complement Western Publishing’s product line, and to reach retail outlets that normally did not carry it. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel. DC characters TM & © DC Comics. Micronauts © Takara LTD/A.G.E., Inc. Battlestar Galactica © NBCUniversal. Star Wars © LucasFilm. Tarzan © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Conan © Conan International, LLC.

Marvel’s experiment worked and its entire line of 32-page comics increased to 30 cents per copy. The publisher repeated this practice again the following year, when it increased over 50 titles from 30 cents apiece to 35-cent comics in several markets. This time, licensed titles including Godzilla, Scooby-Doo, and Tarzan were peppered the mix and later became highly sought-after by not only comics collectors, but also by general fans of those intellectual properties. One title particularly interested comic-book dealers, especially those who bought and sold the 35-cent variant cover without quite realizing what they had… In May 1977, just weeks before George Lucas’ Star Wars hit theaters and became one of the greatest film franchises in history, the first issue of Marvel’s six-issue adaptation (written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Howard Chaykin) hit the stands and sold out—again and again. Frank Verzyl, since late 1978 owner of Long Island Comics (www.licomics.com), previously The Batcave, recalls the initial craziness of Star Wars mania: “Star Wars was the first 35-cent alternate to receive any attention in the back-issue collector’s market. I recall buying stacks of that first issue, and became aware of this version when people would bring comics to my store for sale or trade. It was reprinted so many times it was unclear whether I resold those or the genuine test-market version. Copies I did have back then were bagged and priced for not much more than a few bucks. Today I understand they are worth a fortune!”

64 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Power Packs

TM & © Marvel.

Other notable Marvel 35-cent price variants include Iron Fist #14 (Sabretooth’s debut), Howard the Duck #13 (guest-starring the rock group KISS), and Captain America #212 for having two different 35-cent variants, the first for the obvious price increase and a second “error” version sporting a missing “Marvel Comics Group” masthead! Meanwhile, DC Comics’ longtime licensing agreement with Western Publishing including activity and coloring books, puzzles, and other products led to an interesting direction to increase its comics sales. Western owned Gold Key Comics that were published and distributed to the fully returnable newsstand marketplace. However, under its Whitman imprint, the company offered the same comics via its infamous line of poly-bagged 2-and-3-multipacks— on a non-returnable basis—through grocery, five-anddime department stores, and toy chains. Anticipating success with 1978’s Superman: The Movie, Warner Communications (DC Comics’ parent company at that time) believed a similar model would increase awareness and sales of its comic-book line by partnering with Western instead of continuing with its own “Comicpac” programs that had existed since the early 1960s. Long thought to be reprints, all DC/Whitman comics were actually published simultaneously with their newsstand counterparts with noticeably altered covers— replacing DC’s logo with its own “Whitman Comics” imprint, sans issue numbers and cover prices. They were bundled, bagged, and sold on a release schedule that coincided with Western’s other product offerings. Later, the company would package topselling superheroes in their own multi-packs, including various Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman configurations to take advantage of television syndication like Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves, and Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward; current live-action and animated series such as Wonder Woman with Lynda Carter, Hanna-Barbera’s

Distinguished Competition (top) These Dynamic Comics packages were among several multipack types sold at Lionel’s Play World, a main competitor to Toys R Us, which carried DC’s books in DC/Whitman multipacks. (bottom) Reportedly only seven comics exist where the DC Comics bullet with Whitman branding exist, as shown here on issues of Super Friends and (bottom inset) DC Comics Presents, the latter considered the scarcest and most valuable. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 65

Treasured Variants Whitman variants of Marvel and DC tabloid editions. Star Wars © LucasFilm. Hulk and Spider-Man and related characters TM & © Marvel. Superman TM & © DC Comics.

Super Friends, and Filmation’s Shazam!, among others; and to piggyback onto other licensed consumer products featuring the same characters. This strategy seemed like a win/win for all involved. However, burgeoning comic-book retailers during those days did not think these DC/ Whitman variants were authentic. In fact, they were seen as outright counterfeits and unfair competition: “I thought [the Whitman/DC comics] were worthless junk!” laughs Verzyl. “I was astounded when they started showing up everywhere. This was before we had significant direct-market distribution and I couldn’t buy any for my store. [Western Publishing required ordering minimums on all of its products—far too substantial for the then-uprising comic-book stores.— RVC.] Naturally, I actually deterred customers away from them! Now several Whitman editions are highly collectible as many were destroyed and considered ‘fake.’ Who knew?!” Marvel joined Western with its unique distribution model as well. However, thenparent company Cadence Industries refused to permit the distributor from removing “Marvel Comics Group,” the issue number, and cover price from its editions (though plenty were published with full bar codes, some with black, diagonal lines printed through the code, and others depicting an empty box). The foresight to enforce the “Marvel” brand added credibility to this line of variants, mostly distinguishable by a white diamondshape with issue number and price inside a black box instead of the traditional rectangular box located on the upper-left corner of all covers. Ultimately, the Marvel/Whitman variants were accepted by back-issue comics dealers and collectors years before the DC/ Whitman books were and are considered by some to be the “pre-direct market” editions. Some of the Marvel/Whitman multi-packs including The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Conan the Barbarian fetch quite a sum today if they are still sealed in their original, branded plastic-wrap! There were also oversized comics published by the “Big Two” with Whitman’s added stamp that, intentional or not, introduced many children to comics for the first time, particularly those who did not have regular access to newsstands. Marvel special editions for Star Wars (originally sold in two- or three-issue installments and later as an entire collected volume), followed by several issues of Marvel Treasury Edition including the Avengers, Hulk, and Amazing Spider-Man—combined with DC’s Superman vs. Muhammad Ali and Famous First Edition #C-61: Superman #1—were in circulation for years. [See BACK ISSUE #61.] 66 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

1980s VARIANTS

As the comic-book direct market blossomed in the early 1980s, supported by its own growing non-returnable distribution method, the Whitman lines ceased. Although multi-packs would continue to exist via various distribution channels, the comic-book industry’s next wave of variant covers would feature alternate artwork, creating a new level of collectability… To celebrate DC Comics’ historic 50th anniversary, the company published Crisis of Infinite Earths—a 12-issue maxiseries that effectively ended the Multiverse and all of its continuity (and lack thereof), laying down a new path to reboot the DC Universe. The series was met with such critical success that DC’s marketing department devised a plan to print a “Special Collector’s Edition” alternate cover for the first issue of the post-Crisis Superman. Written and penciled by John Byrne, with inks by Dick Giordano, The Man of Steel was published in 1986 and broke ground, not only for modernizing the DC Universe, but also proving a viable market for consumers buying the same comic book twice. “The first variant cover I ever purchased was Man of Steel #1,” recalls Dan Wallace, author of DC Comics Variant Covers: The Complete Visual History. “I remember being struck by the art choices for the variant including an all-new title font and a zoomed-in view of Clark tearing open his shirt without ever showing his face!” Joe Lihach (JoetheTattooGuy.com), who once owned Village Comics and Comic Art Gallery (two of New York City’s earliest and longest-running comics shops, from 1976–2006), vividly recalls a pivotal moment from 1986: “There were two comics where I had a line outside my door on Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village hours before we opened: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight #1 and Byrne’s Man of Steel #1. Instead of most customers buying one or the other cover, they bought multiples of the specialty-shop version. I sold out almost immediately and had to reorder it from whomever still had some. Back then, there were almost 20 distributors, so after a few calls I was able to get more.” Renowned Superman collector and artist Delmo “The Saint” Walters, Jr., recalls buying Man of Steel #1 at Village Comics then:

Variants of Steel (top) The traditional and “Special Collector’s Edition” variant of John Byrne’s 1986 mega-hit The Man of Steel #1. (bottom) Its special Raffle Edition (sent free to winners of a drawing) and (inset) an exclusive Warner Books edition. DC Comics received strong criticism from directmarket distributors and retailers regarding massmarket Warner Books trades not available to them, especially those with exclusive cover art. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 67

shopped elsewhere because their regular spots sold out.” Although the Special Collector’s Edition of The Man of Steel #1 was well embraced by retailers and readers, there were no immediate plans to continue with the idea for the direct market. Instead, DC Comics wished to gauge whether the same concept could be successfully applied to newsstands. And so, testmarket cover variants of Fury of Firestorm #61 and Justice League #3 (both coverdated July 1987), with exclusive cover illustrations by Joe Brozowski and Dick Giordano on Firestorm and Kevin paul levitz Maguire and Al Gordon on JL, respectively, were published in 1987, © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. each with a distinctively different DC emblem. Instead of the traditional DC Comics bullet of the day, these two comics instead featured the Man of Steel inside a circle displaying an intriguing brand name, Superman Comics. Former DC Comics editor, executive, and Legion of Super-Heroes writer Paul Levitz (www. paullevitz.com) explains: “The ‘Superman Comics’ editions were intended as a test, requested by Ed Shukin (then our head of newsstand sales) to show if the comics might sell better with a character brand in the more visible top-third of the comics like the Marvel corner box. I think we put them out in two cities’ newsstand distributors. They sold very well, but it was useless as a test because we quickly established that the copies had been pulled out of the system by comic shops before reaching any real customers.” Former DC Comics production director Bob Rozakis adds: “The one story I remember about those

“As a ginormous Superman fan, it wasn’t hard for me to decide which cover I was going to get. I got both! Little did we know that variant covers would eventually become the rule, not the exception.” Verzyl adds, “Man of Steel #1’s cover for comic retailers was meant for more of a lead-in to get people to buy two covers. I never sold copies for a premium. Having that book did bring new customers to my shop who usually

‘Superman Comics’ (top left) The regular edition of The Fury of Firestorm #61 and (bottom left) its testmarket variant. Both covers by Joe Brozowski and Dick Giordano. (top right) The regular and (bottom right) variant covers for Justice League #3. Both by Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon. Note Batman’s use of the name “Captain Marvel” on the variant’s cover, a no-no at the time with the regular DC line due to Marvel Comics’ copyright of the name. TM & © DC Comics.

68 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Big Red Test Market Cheese Just because we love Kevin Maguire’s art (made even spiffier with our pal Al Gordon’s inks), here’s the original cover art (sans a word balloon and a balloon tail) to Justice League #3 (July 1987). Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 69

[two covers] is that Matt Ragone, who was director of newsstand sales at the time, had a box of them that he said he was holding onto as an investment.” Lihach recalls how some comic-book retailers discovered the existence of these two variants: “DC and Marvel employees would regularly visit my shops and sell their comps. They weren’t collectors or fans of the medium; to them it was just a job. While going through their books, some really oddball stuff would emerge including those Superman Comics editions that we sold for $60.00 each the same day we received them!” Another discovery made while buying complimentary copies from DC Comics staff was the revelation that the company was also experimenting with alternate cover designs on some of its trade paperbacks for bookstores without offering them to the direct-market: “The first TPB that I was offered was a copy of a ‘raffle edition’ of Man of Steel with only Superman’s chest emblem on the cover,” remembers Lihach. “Bookstore-only editions of Camelot 3000, The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, and others released through Warner Books with totally different [cover] art showed up. I would send employees to the local Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, and Barnes and Noble to buy whatever they had in stock and then resell them for twice the price!” [laughs] The two Superman Comics variants and Warner Books trade paperbacks, considered very hot during their initial release, appear all but forgotten by many collectors today. They did not even make the cut of Wallace’s book, making the “Complete Visual History” well, not so complete after all: “Both of those [Superman Comics] covers are interesting experiments with what was apparently DC’s attempt to test the waters on having more kid-friendly covers available at the newsstand during the time that local comics shops were booming in popularity,” Wallace says. “The fact that we didn’t include them was less of an oversight and more of a decision borne of limited space.” While comics retailers (including me) were quite critical of DC’s marketing decisions on the two Superman Comics and various cover changes on its Warner Books trades (a former DC marketing person stated “too bad” to me when I brought up the matter during a retailers summit), Marvel’s transparent approach to its first-ever direct-market variant cover was exceptionally received by specialty shops—1987’s Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. Featuring the wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, one cover shows Parker wearing a tuxedo next to his bride with family and friends in the background, while the other—almost identical—instead depicts Spidey in-costume with various super-friends and foes behind. “The Wedding” was plotted by Jim Shooter and scripted by David Michelinie, with pencils by Paul Ryan and inks by Vince Colletta. Both covers were drawn by John Romita, Sr. Backed by a huge publicity campaign, including a live reenactment of the wedding at Shea Stadium (then-home of the Mets baseball team) in New York City, comic-book retailers benefited from the tremendous media coverage in print and on television. Then-Amazing Spider-Man editor Jim Salicrup (see sidebar #1) recalls: “I don’t know how [Shea Stadium] came about, but was thrilled that it did. My involvement was coaching the actress, Tara Shannon, playing Mary Jane— she was quite good. I wasn’t able to attend the event, but if I’m not mistaken, the night of the Spider-Wedding was also the same night as when Dwight Gooden returned to the Mets’ lineup after a stint in rehab.” Those lucky to have attended the Mets game on June 5, 1987 were not only treated to the game and the live “wedding,” but they also received a special Spidey giveaway. Inside a branded white bag showing the Web-Crawler in-costume, wearing a groom’s top hat and sporting a baseball glove, was a copy of the comic and some other one-of-a-kind goodies. “One of my customers snagged a bunch of those bags under the bleachers after the game—about 100 copies—but they were mostly smashed,” muses Verzyl. “Those I got my hands on were sold for $20 or less. Funny, the common Spider-Man cover was going for more money at first, but then people realized the Peter Parker cover was harder to get and the value rose. ASM Annual #21 is still my favorite variant of all time.” Not everyone agrees that Marvel’s first variant cover was the right direction for the character, editorially. continued on page 72

In Webbed Bliss Both versions of the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987) cover, by John Romita, Sr. TM & © Marvel.

70 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

JIM SALICRUP AND HIS AMAZING SPIDER-VARIANTS Current Papercutz (www.papercutz.com) editor-in-chief

it’ll happen right now! I was thinking we’d have a few

Jim Salicrup, who coincidentally edited both 1987’s

years to build up to it. I also chose the date—June 14th, my brother’s birthday.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 and 1990’s Spider-Man #1, took a moment to speak with

CONTE: This issue is considered to have brought

me about the genesis of these iconic comics

many non-comics collectors into the industry who sparked another wave of comics

with variant covers:

speculating. Do you agree and, if so, would ROBERT V. CONTE: What inspired

you have done anything differently today?

the idea for Marvel to publish its first

SALICRUP: I don’t agree. There are always

variant cover for 1987’s Amazing

folks speculating on comics (remember

Spider-Man Annual #21 featuring

Shazam! #1? [1972—ed.]), but with

two different wedding covers, one with Peter Parker and the other with Spider-Man?

regard to the Spider-Man comics, momentum was building already for multiple reasons—one of which was the

JIM SALICRUP: There were a couple of reasons. First,

new artist on Amazing Spider-Man…

I had seen that mass-market paperbacks were doing

CONTE: Right—Todd McFarlane! Spider-Man #1 also

“variant” covers, and I thought that was a great idea

had variant covers, a standard, one with silver ink, and

to bring attention to a specific title/book. Second, and more specifically, I thought the cover with Spider-Man would appeal more to newsstand readers (that’s why it was the only version sold on the newsstand) and that the Peter Parker cover would be special for fans, and available only in comic-book shops (the newsstand cover was available in comics shops, as well). I originally wanted to have both covers on each comic—the Spider-Man cover on the outside, and the Peter Parker cover within that for the newsstand, and the Peter Parker cover on the outside, and the Spider-Man cover within for the direct-market comics stores—but it was too tricky to do that, I was told. Back when newsstands were still very important for comic-book sales, you looked for ways to get as much attention as possible. CONTE: The media response to the “wedding” at Shea Stadium was incredible for its day. Was that planned via Marvel’s publicity people or did the story go viral organically? SALICRUP: That was Marvel’s PR department at their finest! Pam Rutt was in charge back then. She was very much involved with the Spider-Wedding promotions, especially with the wedding dress—which was designed by the late Willi Smith. My involvement was mostly that [Lee] had proposed the idea (no pun intended), and [then-Marvel editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter asked if I wanted to do it. I did, but I forgot with Stan that means Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 71

TM & © Marvel.

I’m the one that wanted the wedding to happen—Stan

continued from page 70

then a reprint with gold ink. Do you recall generally how those issues sold? SALICRUP: Believe it or not, one of the covers was limited to just 250,000 copies! There was also a bagged version. Altogether, it’s been reported that Spider-Man #1 sold 2.65 million copies. But I believe interest had steadily been growing for Amazing Spider-Man, and it was reflected in everincreasing sales figures. Even after the first issue of Spider-Man, sales remained very strong. While older fans of the [Steve] Ditko/[John] Romita Spider-Man tend to dismiss the sales of Spider-Man #1, saying it was all because of speculators, I strongly disagree.

TM & © Marvel.

I don’t believe they understood how popular with ’90s fans Todd

“The whole thing came across like a hastily conceived publicity stunt—which it was—so it wasn’t naturally built up to,” says current Marvel executive and senior vice president of publishing editor Tom Brevoort (www.tombrevoort.com). “Heck, Mary Jane had been written out of the series for months and had to be quickly pulled back on stage so the wedding could come off. It reeked of artifice.” Ironically, the variant cover that garnered Marvel so much attention and brought thousands of new comic-book readers into the market is inexplicably missing from the new book, Marvel Comics: The Variant Covers. Meanwhile, achieving unprecedented success with the 1989 Batman film (starring Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader and Jack Nicholson as the Joker; see BACK ISSUE #113), DC Comics launched an all-new series, Legends of the Dark Knight, exclusively for the direct market with four different, neon-colored overlap covers designed by Dean Motter (deanmotter.com)—hiding the Ed Hannigan and George Pratt image used to solicit and promote the issue. The reprint did not include the multi-color variants. “It was a unique assignment: Harken to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight without imitating it,” says Motter. “I did that with the typography. The frame gave us the means to differentiate the various miniseries. The four images were for each chapter. The whole thrust was to make it appeal to adults without labeling it à la Vertigo.” “The marketing for Legends of the Dark Knight #1 annoyed the hell out of me,” comments Frank Verzyl. “As I recall, those multiple-colored extra covers were not announced—an unexpected surprise—and not in a good way! Completists were calling me for weeks looking for colors that were sold out from their usual shops. I could only accommodate a few people. It was frustrating.”

McFarlane was. All the Spider-Man titles were doing better than ever at that point. Yes, there were speculators—but not to the extent some would like you to believe. CONTE: Any behind-the scenes stories on possible variant covers that did not materialize? SALICRUP: The cover for Amazing Spider-Man #301 was originally supposed to be the variant cover for Amazing Spider-Man #300. Again, one cover was intended for the newsstand (the red-andblue costume) and one for the comic-book shops (the black-andwhite costume). So, while Marvel didn’t do it way back when, they did do it recently for the $100.00 Omnibus Editions of McFarlane’s [and writer David Michelinie’s] Amazing Spider-Man work. CONTE: What periods in comics, in your opinion, do you think were mostly driven by speculative sales due to variant covers? SALICRUP: I think after Spider-Man #1 publishers got super greedy, and hurt the comics market by publishing far too many gimmick having variant covers. I especially don’t like variant covers that don’t even reflect the content of the comics they’re on. But this is just my opinion. Obviously, some folks really enjoy the variants, and in some cases, I do, too. 72 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

covers. It continues to this day with many comics routinely

1990s VARIANTS

Less than a year later, Marvel launched its all-new Spider-Man #1, written and drawn by Todd McFarlane— a then-uprising talent who quickly climbed the ladder of artistic fame with his runs on The Incredible Hulk and Amazing Spider-Man. Featuring standard and metallic-silver covers, poly-bagged and not, some with barcodes, others not, there was also a Platinum Edition with a cardstock cover and then a signedand-stamped edition with McFarlane’s “John Hancock” available. Specialty retailers soon realized that some of their customers purchasing this historic issue had never collected comics before. These non-readers, soon to be known as speculators, were pre-ordering copies

with the sole intent of reselling them at a premium to make a quick profit. “Spider-Man #1 was a mega-event when it was released that Friday,” remembers Joe Lihach. “People I had never seen in my stores were not only preordering cases of the each edition—yes, cases— they were prepaying in full to guarantee they didn’t miss it. It was an insane time and, in my opinion, marked the point where speculators took over the industry. Retailers, as a whole, totally changed their buying habits after that and treated comics like stocks, which already occurred a few years earlier with baseball cards.” Retailer Joseph Turner of Atomic City Comics (www.facebook.com/atomiccitycomics), a 41-year-old

The Arachknight Rises Artist Todd McFarlane made Spidey a super-seller! Spider-Man #1 (Aug. 1990) and its metallic variants. TM & © Marvel.

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 73

Mutant Mania! Did you collect all of the variants to X-Men #1 (Oct. 1991)? Covers signed by their artist, Jim Lee. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

comics shop located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, concurs: “Man of Steel #1 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 were driving proponents that interested speculators, but Spider-Man #1’s sales made stores realize that comics had become the general consumer’s ‘penny stock.’ Customer buying habits quickly turned from what were known as great stories and art to what they thought would add financial value to their collections, not necessarily what they would enjoy.” Marvel’s next two colossal comics further mutated this practice among investors. First was X-Force #1, plotted and drawn by New Mutants and Hawk and Dove artist Rob Liefeld (with scripting by his Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza). Five versions of this issue were available, not with a variant cover, but with five different trading cards poly-bagged with it. Second was the all-new X-Men #1, by longtime Uncanny X-Men scribe Chris Claremont and penciled by the company’s newest artistic prodigy, Jim Lee (with inks by Scott Williams), featuring five different variant covers and, according to Guinness World Records, earned the distinction of selling over eight-million copies— an achievement that remains undefeated to date! With the amount of combined sales power McFarlane, Liefeld, and Lee had at Marvel, is it any wonder that they stopped working for the company to form Image Comics (with Erik Larsen, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino) in 1992, becoming the juggernaut needed to help revolutionize the comics industry and wake up the “Big Two” to accept a serious revelation: Don’t abuse the talent! As Marvel’s sales of Spider-Man #1, X-Force #1, and X-Men #1 were no doubt milestones, perhaps the comic book that garnered the most media attention in the 1990s was Superman #75—“The Death of Superman!” DC’s publicity department cleverly convinced news outlets that this was “it” for the Man of Steel. Having recently left Heroes World Distribution (HWDC) and returning to comics retail managing Village Comics, I knew better and 74 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

MORE ABOUT VARIANTS, WITH MARC PATTEN Shortly after being introduced to my Heroes World Distribution Company colleague, Marc Patten, I left the company to pursue other interests. Below, Marc offers additional insight regarding variant comics during the early-to-mid 1990s. – Robert V. Conte

No Doomsday for Sales The bestselling Superman #75. (top) Its poly-bagged and Platinum direct-sales editions. (bottom left) The newsstand edition. (bottom right) A direct-sales edition with the poly-bag removed. TM & © DC Comics.

freely stated so when multiple news stations visited the shop and interviewed me on the day the book was released. “Don’t worry, [Superman] will be back,” I proudly proclaimed on CNN. “Give it a year or 18 months. There’s no way DC would permanently kill off one of its top characters.” Speculators seemed not to care as, once again, customers were purchasing enough copies of the black, poly-bagged comic to stock their own shops! Former HWDC Director of Purchasing Marc Patten, current owner of comics and pop-culture store Heroes in Action (www.heroesinaction.com), also recalls working for the once-thirdlargest direct-market distributor: “My first few weeks at HWDC in the fall of 1992 had me jumping right into the variant fire with a monster: Superman #75—the death of the world’s greatest superhero. At first, stores were furious over their orders for the black-bagged ‘Deluxe’ version being allocated that was exclusive to the direct market (DM) with a unique ‘tombstone’ cover including a plethora of goodies inside the bag. Phones rang off the hook for days as reorders for the alternate newsstand cover piled in,

“The biggest collector craze involving variant covers began after Valiant Comics had just exploded in sales after its ‘Unity’ crossover. Every new first issue had a special gold, silver, or foil-embossed variant that was only available by somehow proving you were the ultimate Valiant fan—be it dressing up for Halloween as Shadowman, or building an art collage out of Harbinger covers. “Valiant, Malibu, and DC also did special-incentive covers that were either ‘one-per-store thank-yous’ or ordering incentives, where you got a gold-embossed logo or hologram variant per a certain amount of copies ordered. Many publishers began offering special variant editions or preview editions at the retailer trade shows hosted by the big three distributors, which paved the way for DC’s Retailer Roundtable Program (RRP) and all the limited-edition variants given out to retailers at the Diamond Comics Retailer Summit trade show over the last 20 years. “One of my favorite giveaways at the Heroes World trade show in 1993 was a copy of Defiant Comics’ The Birth of the Defiant Universe Commemorative Edition limited to less than 500 copies, all numbered and signed by publisher Jim Shooter, that featured an opaque acetate/parchment-hybrid cover that was incredibly slick. Defiant gave each retailer a pair of white cotton gloves with the comic so that you could handle it like fine china. I recall Shooter telling me that each copy cost them over $20 dollars per copy to print, as opposed to say the 40 cents a regular comic cost to print at that time. “One ironic thought about that time period is that most independent publishers never really went overboard with multiple variant covers like Marvel and DC did. Often their sales reps would tell me they thought variant covers were cheating the fans and tricking them to buy the same comic more than once. They wanted their customers to read and enjoy the content instead of buying a collectible.”

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 75

The Ultimate Guide Dan Wallace’s book DC Comics Variant Covers: The Complete Visual History. Neal Adams illustrated the mass-market version of the cover, which also has a variant cover (right) drawn by Frank Cho. TM & © DC Comics.

which went through four printings, now highly collected variants noted as such with a simple roman numeral near the price, and a change in color on the logo. DC continued to release a unique variant cover for the DM different from the newsstand copies on hotter titles, like the four Superman series, over the next year, while Batman was no slouch in that department offering a variant foil cover for the DM version of Batman #500.” (See sidebar #2.) Notes Frank Verzyl, “This was an exceptionally annoying time for many retailers. Ultimately, it was like printing money! Many collectors with ‘completist mentality’ would buy them all. Speculators would buy multiple copies and quickly turn them around for two-to-three times the price. It seemed that you could never have too much overstock of those books, but other titles and publishers suffered.” Joe Lihach adds, “In order to buy such large bulk of those [variant] covers, we had to cut back our capital on lesser-selling Marvels and DCs, Archies, Disneys, and especially the independents. By 1992, ’93, there was so much product being offered by almost 20 distributors, I would spend a week looking over all the order forms before faxing Diamond, Capital City, Heroes World, New Jack’s, etc. etc. Other items like statues, T-shirts, videos, role-playing games, and model kits were added, too. To this day, I believe publishers like Comico, Innovation, and Now Comics perished because of the combined variant glut and product expansion comics shops faced.” Speaking of independent comics publishers, many of those companies jumped on the variantcover bandwagon, too. 1987’s Adventurers Book Two (Malibu Comics Entertainment) offered a limitededition variant for its first issue, while media tie-ins including Now Comics’ Married with Children offered photo covers and illustrated counterparts.

Superman did come back to life in 1993 (no surprise to longtime comics collectors). Speculation on variant covers, ashcans, swimsuit-and-pinup comics, and other over-marketing mischief caused interest in comics to wane, leading to an implosion that would take retailers years to recover from. Greed usually appears to grant those who have it quick, large gains. However, the long-term cost can be much, much higher. “We lost a lot of longtime collectors who just didn’t have the disposable income anymore to buy everything, so they lost interest,” says Lihach. “Hardcover and trade-paperback reprints hurt most back-issue sales that were a major part of our profits. Increasing rents, online sales, and significant competition (including the rise of Midtown Comics, now the number-one comics retailer) forced the store to downsize several times. I eventually closed Village Comics in 2006, but have a lifetime of memories from those glory days.”

VARIANTS LIVE ON

While the variant comic-book cover never completely died, it did evolve into less use of premium printing technology (foil-stamping, holograms, lenticular images, Chromium, etc.) into more of an opportunity to showcase more diverse illustrators than ever before. “There was the burst of the speculation bubble that caused the market to crash in the 1990s,” notes Marvel’s Tom Brevoort. “But if anything, that led to more reliance on variant covers (and less reliance on specialty covers).” While many old-time comics buyers critique the new wave of variant comics covers as the primary reason they sell today, Dan Wallace explains: “I definitely wouldn’t credit variant covers with driving the modern comics industry, since I think most fans prize the interior pages— that is, the intersection of art and story—above all else. But variant covers can be a fun showcase for artists, and obviously there are some fans who zero in on variants for

76 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Special thanks to those interviewed for this article, especially Frank Verzyl (who sold me my very first back issue in 1979, Batman #210); Joe Lihach (who hired me in 1992 to work at Village Comics/Comic Art Gallery and supported my self-publishing efforts in the early days); Jim Salicrup, a valued editor, mentor, and friend since 1994; and Michael Eury, ye editor who graciously permits me to write about my favorite topics in comics. I honor the recently departed David Anthony Kraft and Steve Sherman, both of whom I was blessed to interview for BACK ISSUE before they left us. Dave and Steve, both of you and your contributions to comics and more are forever remembered. RIP. ROBERT V. CONTE’s (www.studiochikara.com) vast career in comics began in retail at Collector’s Kingdom, moving onto Heroes World Distribution Company, followed by editorial positions at Malibu Comics Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, and various stints in publishing. In 1992, his Silver Skull Studios published a red-and-blue foil variant of This is Sick #1, limited to 1,000 copies. It immediately sold out and, at its peak, sold for $50 per copy!

ELSON’S AND LIONEL’S PLAY-WORLD DC SUPER HEROES How many of you own copies of Elson’s DC Super Heroes Comics from 1981? Six issues of these amazing, 96-page collections were sold exclusively at Elson’s Gift and News locations. Lionel’s Play-World also offered three volumes with similar covers, but different contents. All nine collections include three repurposed, 32-page DC Comics. Are they variants or recovered remainders? You be the judge!

BRITMANIA

their value as collectibles. At the end of the day, variant covers are always an optional choice and fans who aren’t keyed in to the variants can still enjoy the comic as intended. Comic-book covers are essentially one-panel advertisements for the story inside, but variant covers can go in crazier directions that are more artistically satisfying. Future variant covers got more experimental and idiosyncratic, and I love them for that.” To date, the record-holding title for most variant covers is The Amazing Spider-Man #666, boasting 145 different images. Other honorable mentions include Detective Comics #1000, with 84 different variants, and Godzilla #1 from IDW, with 80 different images (many created for retailers featuring their own stores destroyed by the Big G’s foot!). As of this writing, Marvel’s publication of its new Eternals series is accompanied by almost 40 different covers for issue one. At least 11 variant covers promoted DC’s new The Suicide Squad series, spread across various titles when the film was released in August 2021. It appears certain that variant covers are here to stay, at least until comics publishers come up with another gimmick to sell multiple copies of the same issue to consumers. DNA-encoded comics, anyone?

by MARK VOGER

Remember when long-haired British rock ’n’ rollers made teenage girls swoon — and their parents go crazy? BRITMANIA plunges into the period when suddenly, America went wild for All Things British. This profusely illustrated full-color hardback, subtitled “The British Invasion of the Sixties in Pop Culture,” explores the movies (A HARD DAY’S NIGHT, HAVING A WILD WEEKEND), TV (THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR), collectibles (TOYS, GAMES, TRADING CARDS, LUNCH BOXES), comics (real-life Brits in the DC and MARVEL UNIVERSES) and, of course, the music! Written and designed by MARK VOGER (MONSTER MASH, GROOVY, HOLLY JOLLY), BRITMANIA features interviews with members of THE BEATLES, THE ROLLING STONES, THE WHO, THE KINKS, HERMAN’S HERMITS, THE YARDBIRDS, THE ANIMALS, THE HOLLIES & more. It’s a gas, gas, gas! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-115-8 • SHIPS NOVEMBER 2022!

Get Mark Voger’s three other books for $99.95! Monster Mash • Groovy • Holly Jolly Normally 120, get this specially-priced trio for only $ 99.95! $

Save $24!

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com Don’t miss exclusive sales, limited editions, and new releases! Sign up for our mailing list:

https://groups.io/g/twomorrows

Find BACK ISSUE on

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Just one thing: That photo of Tom DeFalco on page 31 [BACK ISSUE #129] that you credited to me is not mine. Nice photo, but I think whoever took it deserves the credit for it. – Luigi Novi That was a production oversight whose small point size I missed in corrections. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Hildy DeFalco should have received that photo credit. We regret the error and apologize to Ms. DeFalco.

ROY THOMAS AND CAPTAIN CARROT

While I very much enjoyed my (and Dann’s) old friend Scott Shaw!’s piece on Captain Carrot [BI #129], a few corrections are in order: (1) A bit of credit should go to my then-collaborator on screenplays, Gerry Conway, who I believe made the original suggestion that I make up a JLA-type group of funny-animals and pitch it to DC, which led to the Justa Lotta Animals… and then to Capt. Carrot, with which Gerry had no direct involvement, but had helped inspire. Gerry got his half of the writer’s half of the contractual agreement because of that initial JLA-funnyanimal suggestion. (2) The concept on which Sam Grainger and I had worked at Marvel in the late ’70s or so was NEVER going to be called “Captain Carrot.” He was conceived as “Super Rabbit, the Marvel Bunny,” which would have incorporated both the name of Timely’s 1940s animal superhero AND the defunct Captain Marvel Bunny. I also planned—and I’d have to refresh my memory to tell whether this was at Marvel or DC—to make up such a strip to be drawn by Herb Trimpe, the idea being a sort of “What If Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had teamed up to do a funny-animal superhero?”

78 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue

Send your comments to: Email: euryman@gmail.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief • BACK ISSUE 112 Fairmount Way * New Bern, NC 28562

Not for What If?, but as a new standalone feature. I seem to recall that this was soon after I got to DC, and that Herb was planning at that time to quit Marvel and come to DC… but then he changed his mind (I think a raise was involved), which is largely why the ultra-talented Scott inherited what became Capt. Carrot. Of course, the substitute of a Hanna-Barbera-style cartoonist for the basically Marvel-superherooriented Trimpe meant that the concept evolved in an even more humorous way, but I’m not complaining. (3) I don’t recall ever seeing any drawings that Joe Orlando did of characters for the Zoo Crew, but I do know that all the names and concepts of ALL the heroes except Pig-Iron (who was the brainstorm of Scott himself), and at least descriptions of the general look— plus an actual sketch or two by me of Captain Carrot, very similar to the final version except with only a carrot, not a carrot and a “C,” on his chest—[came from me]. Although I admire Joe Orlando’s artwork, and his stewardship of the House of Mystery-type titles at DC, his interference in the Captain Carrot concept could not have been for the better... and, according to my informal agreement with DC and Jenette Kahn, should have been run by me as well as Scott. But it was typical of DC to make commitments verbally and then rescind them if an alternative thought occurred to them. Joe didn’t know enough about humor, really, to improve on what Scott and I were planning. And the notion (which I first read about in BACK ISSUE #129) that he might have even considered using some inexperienced college student as the artist is just more illustration that Joe should have kept his ill-considered oar out. (4) I don’t recall right now knowing about DC approaching Joe Staton, a talented artist who might have done a good Capt. Carrot… but as usual, it was done behind my back. It’s small wonder that my mental honeymoon with DC ended so soon. I had the same unhappy experience with aspects of Wonder Woman after I was asked to take that over, so that, even though I’d long wanted to write the character, I quit it in mild disgust after just a few issues. Fine job by Scott on the article—bringing back some bittersweet memories of why it was that DC and I had grown pretty much disenchanted with each other over just two or three years. – Roy Thomas Roy, thank you for sifting through those memories, some of which are obviously painful, for the record.

HERE HE COMES TO SAVE THE DAY!

The latest BACK ISSUE (#129, August 2021, “Bronze Age TV Toon Tie- ins”) was great. This is the kind of stuff that interests me, not boring superheroes from the likes of DC and Marvel. I realize that I am in the minority, but thank you for occasionally publishing articles and, in this case, entire issues catering to us in the minority. [Editor’s note: You’re welcome, and thank YOU for supporting them!] I wanted to point out a few minor errors and omissions in the otherwise excellent article on Mighty Mouse and Terrytoons. First, on page 55, it is stated that St. John Publishing’s last Mighty Mouse issue was #144. Actually, #144 was Pines Comics’ last issue, Pines having acquired the Terrytoons license from St. John three years earlier. Also, it probably should have been mentioned that Pines (and St. John before it) published two Mighty Mouse titles concurrently, Mighty Mouse and Adventures of Mighty Mouse. Adventures of Mighty Mouse is the issue numbered #144 and the title which Dell continued publishing (with a second #144 being issued by then). When Gold Key took over the title, they eventually dropped the “Adventures of” prefix for #161 (Oct. 1964 cover date) through #165 (Sept. 1965). This was followed by Dell-produced Dells, also titled just Mighty Mouse, for #166 (Mar. 1966) through 172 (Oct. 1968). Then when Gold Key revived the comic title in early 1979, they again added the “Adventures of” prefix. By this late date, they were probably unaware of the Dell-produced series of #166–172, which is why they started the numbering (again) with #166 (and coincidentally concluding with #172, the same last number in the Dell-produced series). The numbering and various titles utilized by the multitude of publishers over the years on Mighty Mouse and Terrytoons comics is probably the most convoluted in all comics history. I have a diagram of the entire complicated sequential layout figured out, but let me just give you a “for example.” The series which ended as Adventures of Mighty Mouse #172, Jan. 1980, from Gold Key, started way back in Oct. 1942 as TerryToons Comics vol. 1 #1, from Martin Goodman’s Timely Comics; it then shifted to Archer St. John’s St. John Publishing Co. in 1947, changing names to Paul Terry’s Comics in 1951 and then to Paul Terry’s Adventures of Mighty Mouse in 1955. That title then shifted to Ned Pines’ Pine Comics imprint in 1956, soon dropping the “Paul Terry’s” prefix. The title then went to Dell in 1959, to Gold Key in 1962, back to Dell in 1966, and back to Gold Key in 1979 with the title change (“Adventures of” dropped and then re-added) as I described earlier. Additionally, there were other

separate series titled Mighty Mouse (and Paul Terry’s Mighty Mouse), Adventures of Mighty Mouse (first issue titled Mighty Mouse Adventures), and Terry-Toons Comics. It’s a complicated mess, as you can see. Getting back to the article, it should have been made clear that the Gold Key titles, New Terrytoons and Adventures of Mighty Mouse, did not appear contemporaneously in 1979. Adventures of Mighty Mouse replaced New Terrytoons on the Gold Key schedule that year (Mighty Mouse having come to be the featured character of the New Terrytoons comic by that time). Gold Key, particularly the material originating from the New York office that included the Terrytoons characters, had gotten really slipshod by the late 1970s. One Heckle and Jeckle issue of the giveaway comic March of Comics mistakenly referred to them as “Jeckle and Heckle” on the cover, and these two characters were often referred to as being crows when they had always previously been spotlighted as magpies (perhaps the GK editors thought kids wouldn’t know what a magpie was?). I have enclosed a copy of the cover reproduction [see inset] of the aborted Adventures of Mighty Mouse #173, which appeared in the fanzine The Comic Reader vol. 1 #203 (Aug. 1982). There were probably stories prepared for that issue that never saw print. – John N. Fishel

That complicated publication history makes me happy I avoided the headache of a large Mighty Mouse comic collection, as the rodent’s series would be a bear to file! Thanks for this detailed information, John. Next: the Silver Issue, starring the Silver Surfer! Plus: JACK KIRBY’s Silver Star, SCOTT HAMPTON’s Silverheels, Silver Sable, a Silver Banshee villain history, and more! Featuring KURT BUSIEK, STEVEN BUTLER, TOM DeFALCO, STEVE ENGLEHART, RON FRENZ, STERLING GATES, RON MARZ, FABIAN NICIEZA, TOM PALMER, GORDON PURCELL, MARSHALL ROGERS, ALEX ROSS, JOE RUBINSTEIN, ROGER STERN, GREGORY WRIGHT, and more. Silver Surfer cover by Frenz and JOE SINNOTT. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities Issue • BACK ISSUE • 79

TwoMorrows 2022 www.twomorrows.com • store@twomorrows.com

UPDATE #1

THE

CHARLTON COMPANION by JON B. COOKE

An ALL-NEW definitive history of Connecticut’s notorious all-in-one comic book company! Often disparaged as a second-rate funny-book outfit, Charlton produced a vast array of titles that span from the 1940s Golden Age to the Bronze Age of the ’70s in many genres, from Hot Rods to Haunted Love. The imprint experienced explosive bursts of creativity, most memorably the “Action Hero Line” edited by DICK GIORDANO in the 1960s, which featured the renowned talents of STEVE DITKO and a stellar team of creators, as well as the unforgettable ’70s “Bullseye” era that spawned E-Man and Doomsday +1, all helmed by veteran masters and talented newcomers—and serving as a training ground for an entire generation of comics creators thriving in an environment of complete creative freedom. From its beginnings with a handshake deal consummated in county jail, to the company’s accomplishments beyond comics, woven into this prose narrative are interviews with dozens of talented participants, including GIORDANO, DENNIS O’NEIL, ALEX TOTH, SANHO KIM, TOM SUTTON, PAT BOYETTE, NICK CUTI, JOHN BYRNE, MIKE ZECK, JOE STATON, SAM GLANZMAN, NEAL ADAMS, JOE GILL, and even some Derby residents who recall working in the sprawling company plant. Though it gave up the ghost over three decades ago, Charlton’s influence continues today with its Action Heroes serving as inspiration for ALAN MOORE’s cross-media graphic novel hit, WATCHMEN. By JON B. COOKE with MICHAEL AMBROSE & FRANK MOTLER. SHIPS OCTOBER 2022! (256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-111-0

THE

TEAM-UP COMPANION by MICHAEL EURY

THE TEAM-UP COMPANION examines team-up comic books of the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics—DC’s THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD and DC COMICS PRESENTS, Marvel’s MARVEL TEAM-UP and MARVEL TWOIN-ONE, plus other team-up titles, treasuries, and treats—in a lushly illustrated selection of informative essays, special features, and trivia-loaded issue-by-issue indexes. Go behind the scenes of your favorite team-up comic books with specially curated and all-new creator recollections from NEAL ADAMS, JIM APARO, MIKE W. BARR, ELIOT R. BROWN, NICK CARDY, CHRIS CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, STEVE GERBER, STEVEN GRANT, BOB HANEY, TONY ISABELLA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, PAUL LEVITZ, RALPH MACCHIO, DENNIS O’NEIL, MARTIN PASKO, JOE RUBINSTEIN, ROY THOMAS, LEN WEIN, MARV WOLFMAN, and other all-star writers and artists who produced the team-up tales that so captivated readers during the 1960s, ’70s, and early ’80s. By BACK ISSUE and RETROFAN editor MICHAEL EURY. (272-page SOFTCOVER) $36.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-112-7 • SHIPS AUGUST 2022!

THE LIFE & ART OF

DAVE COCKRUM

by GLEN CADIGAN

From the letters pages of Silver Age comics to his 2021 induction into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame, the career of DAVE COCKRUM started at the bottom and then rose to the top of the comic book industry. Beginning with his childhood obsession with comics and continuing through his years in the Navy, THE LIFE AND ART OF DAVE COCKRUM follows the rising star from fandom (where he was one of the “Big Three” fanzine artists) to pro-dom, where he helped revive two struggling comic book franchises: the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES and the X-MEN. A prolific costume designer and character creator, his redesigns of the Legion and his introduction of X-Men characters Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird (plus his design of Wolverine’s alter ego, Logan) laid the foundation for both titles to become best-sellers. His later work on his own property, THE FUTURIANS, as well as childhood favorite BLACKHAWK and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, plus his five years on SOULSEARCHERS AND COMPANY, cemented his position as an industry giant. Featuring artwork from fanzines, unused character designs, and other rare material, this is THE comprehensive biography of the legendary comic book artist, whose influence is still felt on the industry today! Written by GLEN CADIGAN (THE LEGION COMPANION, THE TITANS COMPANION Volumes 1 and 2, BEST OF THE LEGION OUTPOST) with an introduction by ALEX ROSS. (160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 • (LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER) $36.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-113-4 • SHIPS JUNE 2022!

BACK ISSUE #133

BACK ISSUE #134

BACK ISSUE #135

BACK ISSUE #136

BACK ISSUE #137

BRONZE AGE RARITIES & ODDITIES, spotlighting rare ‘80s European Superman comics! Plus: CURT SWAN’s Batman, JIM APARO’s Superman, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT’s Marvel custom comics, MICHAEL USLAN’s unseen Earth-Two stories, Leaf’s DC Secret Origins, Marvel’s Evel Knievel, cover variants, and more! With EDUARDO BARRETO, PAUL KUPPERBERG, ALEX SAVIUK, and more. Cover by JOE KUBERT.

SILVER ISSUE, starring the Silver Surfer in the Bronze Age! Plus: JACK KIRBY’s Silver Star, SCOTT HAMPTON’s Silverheels, Silver Sable, Silver Banshee, and more! Featuring KURT BUSIEK, STEVEN BUTLER, TOM DeFALCO, STEVE ENGLEHART, RON FRENZ, STERLING GATES, RON MARZ, FABIAN NICIEZA, ALEX ROSS, MARSHALL ROGERS, JOE RUBINSTEIN, ROGER STERN, and cover by FRENZ and SINNOTT.

BRONZE AGE COMICS STRIPS! SpiderMan, Friday Foster, DC’s World’s Greatest Superheroes starring Superman, Howard the Duck, Richie Rich, Star Hawks, Star Trek, MIKE GRELL’s Tarzan, and more! Plus Charlton’s comic strip tie-ins and the MENOMONEE FALLS GAZETTE. With COLAN, GOODWIN, GIL KANE, KREMER, STAN LEE, ROMITA, THOMAS, TUSKA, and more.

1980s PRE-CRISIS DC MINISERIES! Green Arrow, Secrets of the Legion, Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, Krypton Chronicles, America vs. the Justice Society, Legend of Wonder Woman, Conqueror of the Barren Earth, and more! Featuring MIKE W. BARR, KURT BUSIEK, PAUL KUPPERBERG, RON RANDALL, TRINA ROBBINS, JOE STATON, CURT SWAN, ROY THOMAS, and others. VON EEDEN and GIORDANO cover.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships March 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships May 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships June 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships July 2022

BACK ISSUE #138

BACK ISSUE #139

BACK ISSUE #140

BACK ISSUE #141

BRICKJOURNAL #74

CLASSIC HEROES IN THE BRONZE AGE! The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Flash Gordon, Popeye, Zorro and Lady Rawhide, Son of Tomahawk, Jungle Twins, and more! Featuring the work of DAN JURGENS, JOE R. LANSDALE, DON McGREGOR, FRANK THORNE, TIM TRUMAN, GEORGE WILDMAN, THOMAS YEATES, and other creators. With a classic 1979 fully painted Gold Key cover of Flash Gordon.

NOT-READY-FOR-PRIMETIME MARVEL HEROES! Mighty Marvel’s Bronze Age second bananas: Doc Samson, Jack of Hearts, Thundra, Nighthawk, Starfox, Modred the Mystic, Woodgod, the Shroud, Thunderbird and Warpath, Stingray, Wundaar, and others! Featuring the work of BUSIEK, DAVID, ENGLEHART, GERBER, GIFFEN, GRANT, MANTLO, MICHELINIE, STERN, THOMAS, and other A-list talent!

DINOSAUR COMICS! Interviews with Xenozoic®’s MARK SCHULTZ and dinoartist extraordinaire WILLIAM STOUT! Plus: Godzilla at Dark Horse, Sauron villain history, Dinosaurs Attack!, Dinosaurs for Hire, Dinosaur Rex, Dino Riders, Lord Dinosaur, and Jurassic Park! Featuring ARTHUR ADAMS, BISSETTE, CLAREMONT, COCKRUM, GERANI, STRADLEY, ROY THOMAS, and more. SCHULTZ cover.

SPIES AND P.I.s! Nick Fury from Howling Commando to Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ms. Tree’s MAX ALLAN COLLINS and TERRY BEATTY in a Pro2Pro interview, MARK EVANIER on his Crossfire series, a Hydra villain history, WILL EISNER’s John Law, Checkmate, and Tim Trench and Mike Mauser. With ENGLEHART, ERWIN, HALL, ISABELLA, KUPPERBERG, STATON, THOMAS, and cover by DAVE JOHNSON!

Amazing LEGO® STAR WARS builds, including Lando Calrissian’s Treadable by JÜRGEN WITTNER, Starkiller Base by JHAELON EDWARDS, and more from STEVEN SMYTH and Bantha Bricks! Plus: Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, stepby-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK (including a LEGO BB-8), and more! Edited by JOE MENO.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Aug. 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Sept. 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Nov. 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Jan. 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #83

KIRBY COLLECTOR #84

KIRBY COLLECTOR #85

RETROFAN #20

RETROFAN #21

FAMOUS FIRSTS! How JACK KIRBY was a pioneer in all areas of comics: Romance Comics genre, Kid Gangs, double-page spreads, Black heroes, new formats, super-hero satire, and others! With MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, plus a gallery of Jack’s pencil art from CAPTAIN AMERICA, JIMMY OLSEN, CAPTAIN VICTORY, DESTROYER DUCK, BLACK PANTHER, and more!

STEVE SHERMAN TRIBUTE! Kirby family members, friends, comics creators, and the entertainment industry salute Jack’s assistant (and puppeteer on Men in Black, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and others). MARK EVANIER and Steve recall assisting Kirby, Steve discusses Jack’s Speak-Out Series, Kirby memorabilia from his collection, an interview with wife DIANA MERCER, and Steve’s unseen 1974 KIRBY/ROYER cover!

KIRBY: ANIMATED! How JACK KIRBY and his concepts leaped from celluloid, to paper, and back again! From his 1930s start on Popeye and Betty Boop and his work being used on the 1960s Marvel Super-Heroes show, to Fantastic Four (1967 and 1978), Super Friends/Super Powers, Scooby-Doo, Thundarr the Barbarian, and Ruby-Spears. Plus EVAN DORKIN on his abandoned Kamandi cartoon series, and more!

MAD’s maddest artist, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, is profiled! Plus: TV’s Route 66 and an interview with star GEORGE MAHARIS, MOE HOWARD’s final years, singer B. J. THOMAS in one of his final interviews, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Summer 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships April 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships June 2022

New Magazines!

ALTER EGO #176

ALTER EGO #177

ALTER EGO #178

The Golden Age comics of major pulp magazine publisher STREET & SMITH (THE SHADOW, DOC SAVAGE, RED DRAGON, SUPERSNIPE) examined in loving detail by MARK CARLSON-GHOST! Art by BOB POWELL, HOWARD NOSTRAND, and others, ANTHONY TOLLIN on “The Shadow/Batman Connection”, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, PETER NORMANTON, and more!

Celebration of veteran artist DON PERLIN—artist of WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, THE DEFENDERS, GHOST RIDER, MOON KNIGHT, 1950s horror, and just about every other adventure genre under the fourcolor sun! Plus Golden Age artist MARCIA SNYDER—Marvel’s early variant covers— Marvelmania club and fanzine—FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Cracked Mazagine, & more!

Golden Age great EMIL GERSHWIN, artist of Starman, Spy Smasher, and ACG horror—in a super-length special MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT by MICHAEL T. GILBERT—plus a Gershwin showcase in PETER NORMANTON’s From The Tomb— even a few tidbits about relatives GEORGE and IRA GERSHWIN to top it off! Also FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and other surprise features!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships April 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships June 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Oct. 2022

ALTER EGO #179

ALTER EGO #180

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #27 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #28 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #29

Celebrating the 61st Anniversary of FANTASTIC FOUR #1—’cause we kinda blew right past its 60th—plus a sagacious salute to STAN LEE’s 100th birthday, with never-before-seen highlights—and to FF #1 and #2 inker GEORGE KLEIN! Spotlight on Sub-Mariner in the Bowery in FF #4—plus sensational secrets behind FF #1 and #3! Also: FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, a JACK KIRBY cover, and more!

THE YOUNG ALL-STARS—the late-1980s successor to ALL-STAR SQUADRON! Interviews with first artist BRIAN MURRAY and last artist LOU MANNA—surprising insights by writer/co-creator ROY THOMAS—plus a panorama of never-seen Young All-Stars artwork! All-new cover by BRIAN MURRAY! Plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and beyond!

Extensive PAUL GULACY retrospective by GREG BIGA that includes Paul himself, VAL MAYERIK, P. CRAIG RUSSELL, TIM TRUMAN, ROY THOMAS, and others. Plus a JOE SINNOTT MEMORIAL; BUD PLANT interview Part One, as the retail and mail-order pioneer discusses his early years and first forays as San Jose comic shop proprietor—at 16!; our regular columnists, and the latest from HEMBECK!

STEVE BISSETTE career-spanning interview, from his Joe Kubert School days, Swamp Thing stint, publisher of Taboo and Tyrant, creator rights crusader, and more. Also, Part One of our MIKE GOLD interview on his Chicago youth, start in underground comix, and arrival at DC Comics, right in time for the implosion! Plus BUD PLANT on his publishing days, comic shop owner, and start in mail order—and all the usual fun stuff!

DON McGREGOR retrospective, from early ’70s Warren Publications scripter to his breakout work at Marvel Comics on BLACK PANTHER, KILLRAVEN, SABRE, DETECTIVES INC., RAGAMUFFINS, and others. Plus ROBERT MENZIES looks at HERB TRIMPE’s mid-’70s UK visit to work on Marvel’s British comics weeklies, MIKE GOLD Part Two, and CARtoons cartoonist SHAWN KERRIE! SANDY PLUNKETT cover!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Dec. 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Feb. 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Summer 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2022

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

2022

Print subscribers get the digital edition free!

Alter Ego (Six print issues) Back Issue (Eight print issues) BrickJournal (Six print issues) Comic Book Creator (Four print issues) Jack Kirby Collector (Four print issues) RetroFan (Six print issues)

Poly mailer, backing board

ECONOMY US

Faster service, rigid mailer

PREMIUM US

Non-US orders, rigid mailer

INTERNATIONAL

DIGITAL ONLY

$68 $90 $68 $49 $49 $68

$91 $121 $91 $65 $65 $91

$103 $137 $103 $72 $72 $103

$29 $39 $29 $19 $19 $29

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History. TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

No print issue

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com Don’t miss exclusive sales, limited editions, and new releases! Sign up for our mailing list:

https://groups.io/g/twomorrows

Download our Free Catalog of all our available books and back issues! https://www.twomorrows.com/media/TwoMorrowsCatalog.pdf

ALTER EGO #175

Spotlighting the artists of ROY THOMAS’ 1980s DC series ALL-STAR SQUADRON! Interviews with artists ARVELL JONES, RICHARD HOWELL, and JERRY ORDWAY, conducted by RICHARD ARNDT! Plus, the Squadron’s FINAL SECRETS, including previously unpublished art, & covers for issues that never existed! With FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and a wraparound cover by ARVELL JONES!

PRINTED IN CHINA

ALTER EGO #174

FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America) issue—spearheaded by feisty and informative articles by Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. BECK—plus a fabulous feature on vintage cards created in Spain and starring The Marvel Family! In addition: DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III interview (conclusion)—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on early rivals of MAD magazine—the haunting of JOHN BROOME—and more! BECK cover!